Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, speaking at the Interim Study Commission on PTSD in First Responders meeting on Sept. 30, 2025, in the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Alabama. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector)
The Alabama House of Representatives Thursday passed a bill that would create a scholarship for dependents of law enforcement officers.
HB 98, sponsored by Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, creates the Alabama Law Enforcement Officers’ Family Scholarship Program. The scholarship can be used by families of law enforcement officers for public technical schools, colleges and universities.
“Last year, it got up to the Senate and was the last bill so it did not get voted on, but this is a part of the public safety package of the governor and speaker from last year,” Treadaway said on the House Floor.
Currently, the state offers scholarships to families of officers who have been killed or totally disabled in the line of duty. This legislation would extend the scholarship to spouses and children of law enforcement officers who have worked seven years at one Alabama law enforcement agency or 12 continuous years at multiple agencies.
The bill passed 99-0 with minimal debate or discussion. Rep. David Standridge, R-Hayden, spoke in support of the bill.
“I spent 21 years in law enforcement, I know what struggles, what officers have to do, especially on the salaries that most of them make, Standridge said. “Most of us have to work multiple jobs to do this career and this is important for those families in law enforcement.”
Treadaway filed a similar bill last year. The bill passed in the House but failed to make it to the Senate floor.
The Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE) would administer the scholarship and the funding would be capped at $3,000 per academic period.
A message seeking comment was left with ACHE Thursday.
If passed, the bill would go into effect Oct. 1. It goes to the Senate.
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Author: Andrea Tinker