A bill providing financial support and a financial incentive structure for rural hospitals passed the House Tuesday on a 103-0 vote.

Sponsored by Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, the bill would create a rural healthcare tax credit to incentivize individual donors and businesses to support rural hospitals. This would be conducted through a fund called the Rural Hospital Investment Program, modeled after a similar program that has seen success in Georgia.

Donors would receive a 100% income tax credit, which would be pulled from both the general budget and education fund.

The legislation from Collins is an attempt to combat Alabama’s rural healthcare crisis as over a dozen hospitals have closed throughout the state over the last decade.

Collins’s previously told AL.com that the closure of Thomasville Regional Medical Center last year motivated the legislation.

“Our education groups realized that if we don’t keep healthcare in those rural areas, they’re going to have a harder time educating children,” Collins said. “I think our workforce areas know if we don’t have healthcare available, they’re not going to be able to recruit industry in. I think that we’re getting a much better understanding of the need and Thomasville closing earlier this fall was what really created the push.”

Tax credits would be capped at $20 million for all donations through 2026, prior to raising the cap to $30 million after the end of the 2027 tax year.

The bill would also establish a board within the Office of State Treasurer to help determine the eligibility of hospitals and oversee the program. Members would include staff from the Alabama Hospital Association, which helped shape the bill, modeling it after The Georgia Heart Hospital program.

The legislation now moves to the Senate chamber.

Savannah Tryens-Fernandes contributed to this report.