Alabama Creates a State IDA Program
By Ethan Geiling on 06/15/2011 @ 12:00 PM
On June 9, Alabama Governor Bentley signed into law SB 295, which created a state Individual Development Account (IDA) program. The bill is a huge victory for state asset building advocates, who have been advocating for IDAs for many years. Alabama first introduced legislation to create an IDA program in 1998. Alabama lawmakers introduced bills in multiple sessions for years after that, but none of these bills passed.
Although the state did not appropriate money for the program, the legislation creates the infrastructure for the state to fund an IDA program, laying the groundwork for a state appropriation in a future legislative session. The program will be run by the Alabama Department of Human Resources, which may look for other sources of funding until there is a state appropriation.
Alabama is the only state within the past two years to create a new IDA program. Prior to that, North Dakota created a program in 2009. Georgia almost created an IDA program during the 2011 legislative session, but the Governor vetoed the bill at the last minute. There are 19 states with state funding for IDAs in Fiscal Year 2011.
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