[Oasfaa] State Legislative Update

[Fair, Bryce]

Last fall, two of the recommendations of the Task Force on State Scholarship
and Student Aid Grant Programs asked the Oklahoma Legislature to:

(1)  Place a moratorium on the creation of any new state-funded scholarship
programs until existing programs are adequately funded; and

(2)  Reconsider the implementation of the Oklahoma Tuition Scholarship
Program, a new merit-based scholarship scheduled to become effective for
college freshmen in 2003-04 (26 ACT, 3.25 GPA, top 15% of class, family
income up to $70,000; estimated cost $2.5 million in 2003-04 and $5.0
million in 2004-05)

As a result of the Task Force recommendations, two bills are now moving
through both houses of the Legislature that would repeal the Oklahoma
Tuition Scholarship Program (OTSP).  Both bills are being sponsored by the
same two legislators -- Rep. Bill Nations (D - Norman; Chair of the House
Higher Education Committee; member of the Task Force) and Sen. Kathleen
Wilcoxson (R - OKC, member of the Senate Education Committee, sponsor of the
legislation last year creating the Task Force).  We appreciate the
willingness of these two legislators to carry these bills.  Its not a
pleasant task to repeal a scholarship program already on the books, even if
the program has not been implemented yet.  

HB 1440 (Rep. Nations is the primary author) basically contains only
language to repeal the OTSP.  However, it also has a section calling for
certain funds to be used for existing scholarship and grant programs and
contains an amendment to provide flexibility for the award level in the
Academic Scholars Program.  HB 1440 has been passed by the House Higher
Education Committee and is now pending action on the House floor.
HB 1440 bill text: http://www2.lsb.state.ok.us/2001-02HB/HB1440_cs.rtf

SB 1523 (Sen. Wilcoxson is the primary author) also contains language
repealing the OTSP.  However, it also contains provisions to provide a
temporary scholarship benefit, if funds are available, to next year's high
school juniors and seniors that would have otherwise qualified for the OTSP.
The bill calls for the temporary scholarships to be administered through the
OHLAP program.  SB 1523 has been passed by the Senate Appropriations
Committee and is pending action on the Senate floor.
SB 1523 bill text: http://www2.lsb.state.ok.us/2001-02SB/sb1523_sflr.rtf

Another bill passed out of the House Higher Education Committee was HB 2738
(by Rep. Abe Deutschendor, D - Lawton).  The bill would allow students at
nonaccredited high schools to be eligible for the OTSP if it was
implemented.  The bill's author recognized that this issue would be "moot"
if the OTSP is repealed.
HB 2738 bill text:  http://www.lsb.state.ok.us/2001-02HB/HB2738_int.rtf

Another bill, HB 2238, includes amendments to the Tulsa Reconciliation
Scholarship program passed last year.  The bill passed, by a small margin,
out of House Rules Committee and is now pending action on the House floor.
HB 2238 bill text: http://www.lsb.state.ok.us/2001-02HB/HB2238_int.rtf

The only other legislation related to student financial aid that passed out
of committee was SB 1636, which proposes a new lottery-funded Oklahoma HOPE
Scholarship Program.  The bill would be contingent upon approval of a state
question by voters to authorize a lottery.  The bill would also allow
lottery proceeds to be used for early childhood programs, health insurance
for school district employees, and education capital projects.  The bill
passed the Senate Appropriations Committee by a narrow margin and is now
pending action on the Senate floor.
SB 1636 bill text: http://www2.lsb.state.ok.us/2001-02SB/sb1636_sflr.rtf
SJR 40 is the legislation that would authorize the state vote on the lottery
- bill text: http://www2.lsb.state.ok.us/2001-02SB/sb1636_sflr.rtf


Several other bills related to financial aid were introduced but were not
considered in committee.  In most cases, these bills are "dead" for the
session:
*	HB 2288 - creating the Oklahoma Tuition Equalization Grant program:
http://www.lsb.state.ok.us/2001-02HB/HB2288_int.rtf
*	HB 2306 - expansion of eligibility for OHLAP to students not
graduating from an accredited high school:
http://www.lsb.state.ok.us/2001-02HB/HB2306_int.rtf
*	HB 2623 - creating a nonresident tuition waiver for former ROTC
students:  http://www.lsb.state.ok.us/2001-02HB/HB2623_int.rtf
*	HB 2822 - allowing OTAG, OHLAP, and OTSP awards to be used at
schools licensed by the Board of Private Vocational Schools:
http://www.lsb.state.ok.us/2001-02HB/HB2822_int.rtf


State Budget Situation:
As you know, most state agencies and many education entities face the
prospect of budget cuts for the remaining months of the current fiscal year
of FY02.  Higher Education is actually in a more precarious situation than
most state agencies since part of our appropriation comes from two funds
that get revenue from oil taxes.  These funds are experiencing revenue
shortfalls of even greater proportions than the state's General Revenue
Fund, which funds most state agencies.  Without supplemental appropriations
from the Legislature for the current year, higher education may experience
cuts exceeding $20 million (total appropriations for our student aid
programs is currently about $30 million).  The State Regents are committed
to protecting student aid programs from any cuts, if at all possible.  We
will try to keep you updated on any developments in this area.

The state budget prospects for next fiscal year, FY03, are not any better.
Higher Education is preparing for flat budgets at best, with some level of
cuts as a strong possibility.  Again, the State Regents will work to spare
existing student aid programs from cuts.  However, the Oklahoma Higher
Learning Access Program (OHLAP) is growing dramatically and must have an
increase of about $2.5 million to fully fund all the anticipated
scholarships next year.  We are expecting over 1,400 new OHLAP students from
this year's high school graduating class (up from 880 last year).  And we
expect some 3,500 new OHLAP students from the high school class of 2003.  We
were pleased to see that Governor Keating recognized this need in his budget
recommendations and proposed a $2.4 million increase for OHLAP, despite
overall state funding shortfalls.  In fact, it was the only increase in
operating funds that the Governor recommended for higher education.  We
remain hopeful that sufficient funding for OHLAP will be secured so that
none of these students is denied their scholarship next year.  This is part
of the reason why the repeal of the OTSP is so urgent.  

[Note:  We have recently posted our most current OHLAP Year-End Report for
2000-01 on our web site at:
http://www.okhighered.org/ohlap/ohlap-report-00-01.pdf   You will see that
our OHLAP students continue to do very well academically and the preliminary
degree-completion rate for the first class of OHLAP students is quite
impressive.  The report also shows the distribution of OHLAP students among
the various institutions in 2000-01.  The program appears to be developing
deeper and deeper roots in schools and communities as participation
increases.  As of today, there are over 16,000 students across the state in
grades 8-12 enrolled in the program.]

This is a critical time period for our student aid programs.  Your awareness
and continued participation in these issues is extremely important.

Bryce Fair
Assoc. Vice Chancellor for Scholarships & Grants
Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education
Phone:  (405) 225-9162
Fax:  (405) 225-9230
E-mail:  bfair at osrhe.edu

Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 108850
Oklahoma City, OK  73101-8850

Street Address:
655 Research Parkway, Suite 200
Oklahoma City, OK  73104