[Oasfaa] Bills introduced for 2010 session of Oklahoma Legislature

[Fair, Bryce]

Following are six bills that have been introduced for the 2010 session
of the Oklahoma Legislature related to our state financial aid programs.
All the bills are related to the Oklahoma's Promise program.  To date,
there has been no action on any of the bills.  Deadlines for initial
committee action on bills are February 18 in the Senate and February 25
in the House.  We will monitor these bills and let you know if there is
any action.
 
SB 1341 - (Ford) - Provides state income tax credits of up to $2,000 for
Oklahoma's Promise students that complete an associate's degree within
two years and tax credits of up to $4,000 for OKPromise students that
complete a baccalaureate degree within four years.  The credits could
only be claimed after completion of the degree.  [This is a different
approach to Sen. Ford's goal of creating incentives for OKPromise
college graduates to remain in Oklahoma after college.]  Text:
http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2009-10SB/SB1341_int.rtf
 
SB 1942 - (Gumm) - A narrowly focused amendment to the provisions that
provide exceptions to the program's income limits for students adopted
from the custody of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.   Text:
http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2009-10SB/SB1942_int.rtf
 
HB 2632 - (Johnson) - Would require OKPromise college graduates to stay
in Oklahoma for at least five consecutive years following graduation.
Any students not fulfilling this requirement would have to pay 20% of
the OKPromise awards they received in college for each year of the five
years they did not remain in Oklahoma (plus 4% interest).  Text:
http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2009-10HB/HB2632_int.rtf
 
HB 2966 - (Brannon) - Would exclude any military pay for hostile fire,
combat, hazardous duty or imminent danger received by the parent when
considering the family income limits for student participation.  Text:
http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2009-10HB/HB2966_int.rtf

HB 3100 - (Cannaday) - Would change the $50,000 family income limit at
the time of application to be based on AGI (rather than the current
total taxable and nontaxable definition of income) and be adjusted for
family size.  [This was one of the recommendations in 2009 of the
OKPromise Task Force that met in fall 2008.]  Text:
http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2009-10HB/HB3100_int.rtf

HB 3156 - (Osborn) - Would increase the high school GPA requirement
(both the overall GPA and the core curriculum GPA) for OKPromise
students from 2.5 to 3.0.  [Our data indicates that this would eliminate
about 30% of the students currently qualifying for the award.  For
example, in the 2009 high school graduating class, about 1,900 of the
6,400 students earning eligibility for the OKPromise award would have
been eliminated.]  Text:
http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2009-10HB/HB3156_int.rtf
 
We'll try to keep you updated.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Bryce Fair


Bryce Fair
Associate Vice Chancellor for Scholarships & Grants
Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education
Phone:  405-225-9162
Fax:  405-225-9392
e-mail:  bfair at osrhe.edu <mailto: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
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