Birmingham Southern College Sues Alabama State Treasurer Young Boozer
Birmingham Southern College has sued Alabama State Treasurer Young Boozer, claiming that he is unfairly denying it a $30 million state loan.
The Legislature passed a bill this year to enact the Alabama Distressed Institutions of Higher Education Revolving Loan Program which Gov. Kay Ivey signed that would help financially-troubled higher education institutions like Birmingham Southern, even though it’s a private school affiliated with the United Methodist Church.
The program gives the power to approve loans to the State Treasurer, and Birmingham Southern says Boozer denied its request even though it says it has met the requirements for getting a loan.
The school has now sued in Circuit Court in Montgomery because it says Boozer should be forced to give it the loan. The college is asking the court for an emergency order to approve the loan and disburse the first $8.8 million by Nov. 6, with another installment of $7.2 million by Feb. 1.
The school’s president says it’s put up most of its campus as collateral and has a plan for not needing state help by 2027.
The office of State Treasurer Young Boozer has released a statement, saying, “Because this matter is in litigation, the Treasurer will not be commenting at this time and looks forward to aggressively defending this lawsuit.”
Birmingham Southern hopes the judge will make Boozer give it the loan by the end of the month. Otherwise, school officials say it could close at the end of this semester, leaving its more than 700 students without a place to go.
Montgomery Circuit Judge James Anderson has scheduled another hearing for Wednesday, Oct. 25. Al.com reported that during the first hearing on Thursday, Anderson questioned whether he has the authority to order the treasurer to approve the loan, saying the law appears to give discretion to the state treasurer. The Alabama attorney general’s office also argued that Boozer’s office has immunity from the lawsuit.
(Copyright 2023 The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
