SB253 Summary

• Allows the Board of Optometric Scholarship and Loan Awards to conduct meetings remotely via telephone, video conference, or similar communications equipment.

• Expands the scholarship program to include loans and establishes the Alabama Optometric Service Program, allowing loan repayment through full-time clinical practice in areas of critical need for six years.

• Requires the board to calculate and report the Optometric Shortage Index at least once every two years by dividing county population by the number of practicing optometrists in that area.

• Establishes three types of funding: annual loans (up to 30% of tuition), merit scholarships (up to full tuition), and service program loans (up to four-year cost of attendance).

• Increases penalties for breach of contract to 100% of remaining principal and expands board remedies to collect outstanding balances through all legally available means.