[Oasfaa] A couple of other bills of interest

[Fair, Bryce]

Following are two more bills from the 2007 Oklahoma legislative session that may be of interest to some.

SB 496 prohibits any state system institution or state career technology center from entering into agreements to sell student data to any creditor for the purposes of marketing consumer credit.
Text: http://www.sos.state.ok.us/documents/Legislation/51st/2007/1R/SB/496.pdf

HB 1114 - Sections 2-5 authorize state agencies to make loan repayments on behalf of state employees of up to $5,000 per year with a cumulative limit of $15,000.  The repayments are discretionary for the agencies.  Certain conditions and required continued employment provisions apply.  Below are a couple of newspaper articles from the past two days about the bill.
Text: http://www.sos.state.ok.us/documents/Legislation/51st/2007/1R/HB/1114.pdf

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Daily Oklahoman 
June 12, 2007

Agencies might pay workers' school debt
By Michael McNutt
Capitol Bureau


Full-time state employees will be able to get some of their student loan costs paid by taxpayers, according to a measure that takes effect next month.
 
It's not so much of a perk as an attempt to retain state employees who may be tempted to go to private companies that pledge to pay some of their college costs, said Scott Barger, deputy director of the Oklahoma Public Employees Association, which proposed the legislation.

"That's just a tool, it doesn't mandate that any agency has to utilize it," Barger said. "But if they have funds available in their budget, they can go ahead and take part in that program."

Impact on budget
The financial impact on the state is zero, he said, because each agency would use available funds, not any special money set aside. Understaffed agencies, for example, could use money not spent on personnel on workers they want to recruit or retain who have loans that need to be repaid.
"The intent is that it would be something that benefits the agency," he said.

It also makes the state more competitive with private companies, Barger said.

"The private sector companies will come in and, for instance, with a social worker give them a job and to incentivize it they'll repay some of their college loans," Barger said. "So we're not able to compete."

Requirements
Eligible employees can earn up to a $5,000 qualified education loan expense payment for every 2,000 hours worked, or 50 40-hour work weeks, in a year. The legislation, House Bill 1114, caps reimbursement at $15,000 per employee.
If the employee leaves the state agency before working the required number of hours, then the employee must pay the state what is owed on the reimbursement, according to the legislation which legislators handily approved. It passed the House, 93-3, and the Senate, 47-0.

Matthew Nowlin, an employee with the Employment Security Commission, came up with the idea.

"This is an important step in recruiting the next generation of state employees and will also encourage recent graduates to consider public service and to stay in the state and help build the future of Oklahoma," Nowlin said.

Minimum salary
The measure, which takes effect July 1, also makes sure no state worker is being paid below the country's poverty level.
The legislation removes language that states employees may be paid no less than $12,483, a figure established in 1991. HB 1114 states employees must be paid at least the annual salary established by federal poverty guidelines for a family of three.

About 200 of the state's approximately 36,000 state workers earn less than the current $17,150 poverty income level for a family of three, Barger said. Bringing the employees up to the poverty level will cost the state about $150,000, Barger said.

Barger's wife, Anna, who works for the Education Department, came up with the idea of helping the lowest-paid state employees.

"When I discovered that there were some state employees who made less than $17,000 per year, I just couldn't understand how anyone could take care of a family making this salary," she said. "I wish it could be more, but I think this will go a long way in helping the lowest paid of our state workers."
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New law allows taxpayers' money to pay full-time state workers' student loans 
By Associated Press 
6/13/2007 

OKLAHOMA CITY - A bill passed overwhelmingly by the Oklahoma Legislature will allow state agencies to use taxpayer money to pay student loan costs for full-time state employees. 
The measure, which will take effect July 1, gives state agencies the flexibility to compete when private companies try to lure state employees with the promise of paying some of their college costs, said Scott Barger, the deputy director of the Oklahoma Public Employees Association, the group that proposed the bill. 
"That's just a tool. It doesn't mandate that any agency has to utilize it," Barger said. "But if they have funds available in their budget, they can go ahead and take part in that program." 
The bill passed the House by a 93-3 vote and the Senate by a 47-0 vote. The measure will allow eligible employees to earn up to a $5,000 loan expense payment every year for every 2,000 hours worked or 50 40-hour weeks worked. An employee can be reimbursed a maximum of $15,000. 
Barger said that because each agency would use only its available funds, and not money set aside for the program, it will have no financial impact on the state. 
"The intent is that it would be something that benefits the agency," Barger said. 
"The private sector companies will come in and, for instance, with a social worker give them a job and to incentivize it they'll repay some of their college loans," Barger said. 
Matthew Nowlin, an employee with the state Employment Security Commission, came up with the idea. 
"This is an important step in recruiting the next generation of state employees and will also encourage recent graduates to consider public service and to stay in the state and help build the future of Oklahoma," Nowlin said. 
Language in the bill also will ensure all state workers must be paid at least the annual salary established by federal poverty guidelines for a family of three, which is $17,150. About 200 of the state's 36,000 workers now earn less than that amount.
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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