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Senate adopts 'Educators on the Job Injury Act' to allow compensation for injured school employees
Summary
The Senate passed Senate Bill 1 (as amended), creating the Mary Ann Leonard Educators on the Job Injury Act to provide a recovery mechanism for education employees injured on the job; the bill includes technical edits and clarifications about PHIP payments, subrogation, statute of limitations, and administrative hearings.
The Alabama Senate passed Senate Bill 1, titled the Mary Ann Leonard Educators on the Job Injury Act, to create a statutory recovery process for education employees who are injured on the job.
Sponsor Senator Gavan described technical amendments adopted on the floor that clarified coverage and the claims process, including the relationship between PHIP (the Public Education Employees Health Insurance Plan) payments and the new fund, subrogation rules, and a statute-of-limitations provision. "This act shall become effective immediately," Gavan said on the floor after amendments were adopted; the sponsor and supporters clarified certain benefit-timing and administrative provisions during debate.
Supporters — many of them current or former educators — said the bill closes a gap in protection for school employees who lack traditional workers' compensation remedies. Senator Coleman Madison, a former teacher, described a past classroom assault that left a teacher hospitalized and said educators often lack an established path to compensation after serious on-the-job injuries.
The adopted floor amendment tightened the claim window so a claimant cannot keep a claim open indefinitely while medical treatment continues; instead the statute of limitations begins to run from a reference point tied to the last temporary total disability payment (as amended). Other amendments clarified that PHIP will pay covered medical bills according to PHIP's fee schedule and that the new statute will not permit double recovery where PHIP or local boards have paid eligible amounts.
The amendments and the bill passed by recorded vote 32 ayes, 0 nays (final passage as amended). The sponsor and supporters said implementation steps include establishing the administrative board and processes described in the act; some funding steps were discussed with the Senate budget leadership but specific appropriations were not detailed on the floor.
Senate members and witnesses described the bill as filling a long-standing gap for school employees who face injuries in the classroom, and senators said they would continue work with the House and the Education budget authorities to address funding of the program.
