[Oasfaa] Article on OHLAP-OK Promise

[Fair, Bryce]

FYI - following is an article related to the proposal to increase the OHLAP family income limit to $75,000.  The article was on the Daily Oklahoman website late yesterday afternoon but I don't see it in the paper this morning.


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Free tuition bill to die in state House committee

By The Associated Press
April 12, 2006

Legislation to greatly expand a free college tuition program will not be heard in the Oklahoma House, a key lawmaker said Wednesday. 

Rep. Chris Benge, chairman of the powerful House Appropriations and Budget Committee, said the state can not afford to increase the family income ceiling for the program to $75,000 from $50,000. The change would make about 75 percent of high school students in the state eligible for free tuition. 

"The out-year costs we're looking at is going to be extremely high," said Benge, R-Tulsa. 

However, he said there is a chance the measure could be revived during negotiations to write a state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. 

The proposal, which passed the Senate in February with bipartisan support, would increase the cost of the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program by about $66 million by 2014 to $176 million a year. 

Republican House Speaker Todd Hiett has publicly opposed increasing OHLAP eligibility, stating lawmakers should first pay for existing OHLAP obligations. Benge said about $10 million is needed to pay the tuition costs of existing OHLAP scholarships. 

Hiett is supporting a massive income tax cut that would reduce the maximum rate from 6.25 percent to 4.9 percent and cut state revenue by $480 million when fully implemented. 

Senate President Pro Tem Mike Morgan, author of the OHLAP proposal, said he has not been formally notified of Benge's decision. The proposal was a key plank of the Democratic-controlled Senate's legislative agenda. 

"The speaker of the House has difficulty being for anything that helps Oklahomans. Every Oklahoman should be concerned," said Morgan, D-Stillwater. 

In pushing for a huge income tax cut, Hiett is putting his political aspirations ahead of the needs of Oklahomans, Morgan said. Hiett is a candidate for lieutenant governor this fall. 

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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