Lobbyist Report

SHAA is pleased to report that we recently hired Jay Murrill who works at Riley and Jackson Law Firm as our first lobbyist for SHAA.  Jay will stay abreast of current bills in our legislature that may have an impact on our profession.  Jay has worked as a lobbyist for many different organizations in our state and is very knowledgeable. We are excited to have Jay working for our group. According to his law firm’s website,  “Mr. Murrill is a member of the Alabama State Bar and the Birmingham Bar Association.  He is licensed to practice in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.  Mr. Murrill routinely represents governmental officials, governmental entities, and quasi-governmental entities in litigation and non-litigation matters involving constitutional issues, employment disputes, and administrative issues.  He also represents plaintiffs in personal-injury litigation and represents individuals and businesses in general corporate and transactional matters.”

6/23/2025 Report:

The Alabama Legislature recently wrapped up its 2025 session, and it was a busy one for SHAA.  

Alabama has two state budgets:  the General Fund Budget and the Education Budget.  A few years ago, SHAA worked with the Legislature to include a speech pathology stipend in the Education Budget.  Since the Legislature has to adopt new budgets every year, SHAA has worked hard to make sure the Legislature continues to include the stipend in each year's Education Budget.   Based on those efforts, the Legislature passed an Education Budget this session that included the stipend.  Even better, certain legislative allies recognize the importance of speech pathology and are looking at increasing the amount of the stipend when the Legislature reconvenes next year.

In addition to its work on the stipend, SHAA spent significant time this session dealing with legislation that would allow someone with an associate's degree to become a speech-language pathology assistant.  The legislation was brought at the request of the state community college association.  SHAA, in conjunction with the Alabama Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, worked with the various stakeholders on amending the legislation to address various concerns.  That resulted in the legislation's sponsor agreeing to make several important changes to the legislation.  Thus, the version of the legislation that the Legislature passed was much better for the profession than the original version of the legislation.  More importantly, the legislation provided SHAA with a great opportunity to help legislators better understand the importance of speech pathology and the good work that SHAA's members do every day.