[Oasfaa] House Action Yesterday on HB 1721

[Fair, Bryce]

Yesterday the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed HB 1721 by a 56-37 vote.  As finally passed by the House after being amended on the floor, the bill would lower the second family income check level in the Oklahoma's Promise program from $100,000 to $60,000.  Our data indicates that if the second income check limit were set at $60,000, about 10% of each entering freshmen class of OKPromise students in college would be disqualified (roughly 500 out of each entering class of about 5,000 freshmen).  Based on an analysis of the 2011-12 college freshmen class of OKPromise recipients, their family income levels (based on FAFSA data) are as follows:

2011-12 OKPromise College Freshmen award recipients
Income under $50,000 =    80%
$50,000 - $60,000 =             8%
$60,000 - $70,000 =             5%
$70,000 - $75,000 =             2%
$75,000 - $100,000 =            3%
Over $100,000 =                   2%  (already ineligible under current law)

Below are the texts of two press releases by the House author of the bill (one from Feb. 28 and one from March 4) and three articles about yesterday's action on the House floor.  I've made a couple of editorial clarifications that are shown in brackets [BF- ].

You can find more information about the bill at http://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=hb1721, including the video of the debate of the bill on House floor yesterday (it was over two hours long, with a significant amount of parliamentary maneuvering), the text of the bill, and the roll call vote on the bill.  The bill will head next to the Oklahoma Senate for consideration.

Let me know if you have any questions.
Bryce Fair



Oklahoma House of Representatives Press Release

Bill Would Keep Oklahoma's Promise

2/28/2013 4:03:00 PM
Contact: State Rep. Leslie Osborn
Capitol: (405) 557-7333

OKLAHOMA CITY - State Rep. Leslie Osborn said today that House Bill 1721 will help protect the state's tuition assistance program for low-income families.

"The intent of my legislation is to redirect the tuition assistance to families who truly need it," said Osborn, R-Mustang. "Oklahoma's Promise, or the Oklahoma Higher Access to Learning Program, was originally created to help the children of poor, working families to qualify for tuition assistance. With several changes made to the program since its creation, it has grown into a program that could potentially make 81 percent of the families of four in the state eligible. This was not the original intent of the program."    [BF - 81% actually refers to the percentage of all Oklahoma families that make less than $100,000.  About 46% of Oklahoma families have incomes under $50,000, the maximum income limit for students to enroll in the program in 8th, 9th, or 10th grade.]

The program currently serves families that have a household income of $50,000 or less at the time of the student's application to the program in the eighth, ninth or tenth grade and a household income of $100,000 or less when they enter college.

Osborn's bill would lower the second income threshold to $75,000 and an amendment to the bill would further lower it to $60,000.

"We have to contain the program's costs to ensure its long-term viability for those families it is intended to serve," said Osborn. "Opponents may characterize the bill as breaking Oklahoma's Promise, but I would characterize it as keeping our promise."

Osborn noted that current enrollees in the program would not be affected.

"No one would lose what they've already attained under the current law," she said. "That would be unfair."




Press Release from the Oklahoma House of Representatives

House Approves OHLAP Reform, Author Responds to Criticism

3/4/2013 5:26:00 PM
Contact: State Rep. Leslie Osborn
Capitol: (405) 557-7333

OKLAHOMA CITY - State Rep. Leslie Osborn said her legislation to lower the income cap on the Oklahoma's Promise scholarship is intended to ensure the program serves low-income families, not to find savings for a tax cut, as opponents have alleged.

"I think the Oklahoma's Promise program is one of the best our state offers," said Osborn, R-Mustang. "I fully support the idea of hard-working students of low-income families receiving a scholarship from the state to achieve their educational goals. That said, our current law does not restrict the program to low-income families. Children of families earning $100,000 a year are currently able to receive this scholarship.  We are lowering that threshold so that the scholarship is entirely directed to low-income families."

House Bill 1721, by Osborn, changes the income requirements on the Oklahoma's Promise scholarship, lowering the income cap for the families of students entering college on an OHLAP scholarship from $100,000 to $60,000. Families of the eighth, ninth and 10th grade students can make no more than $50,000 when the student initially qualifies for the program.

The legislation was approved by a vote of 56-37 by the Oklahoma House of Representatives today.

Osborn said that there are a limited number of applicants to the program and that lowering the cap makes sure low-income students are able to attend college, which would help Gov. Mary Fallin's goal for the state to produce more college graduates.

"Those who stood up and argued against House Bill 1721 may have thought they were arguing on behalf of low-income families in their district, but they are actually arguing to take scholarships from low-income families and give it to families who can afford to send their children to college," Osborn said.

House Bill 1721 now advances to the state Senate.




Bill to change Oklahoma's college scholarship program advances
Oklahoma House Democrats didn't get enough Republicans to join them to oppose lowering the cap on the Oklahoma's Promise scholarship program.

By Michael McNutt
Published: March 5, 2013
Daily Oklahoman

House Democrats came up short Monday in their attempt to kill a bill that would lower the income cap on the Oklahoma's Promise scholarship program for low-income students.

Over a period that lasted more than two hours, Democrats accused Republicans of penalizing the college scholarship program by cutting its funding while at the same time seeking personal income tax cuts that would result in the state losing nearly 10 times that amount in revenue.
Rep. Leslie Osborn, R-Mustang, the author of House Bill 1721, countered that her intent is to ensure the program does indeed serve low-income families.

HB 1721 would change the income requirements on the scholarship program, lowering the income cap for the families of students entering college on the scholarship from $100,000 to $60,000.

Families of the eighth-, ninth- and 10th-grade students can make no more than $50,000 when the student initially qualifies for the program.
The measure passed 56-37. It now goes to the Senate.

Democrats on the House of Representatives floor got agitated when Rep. Paul Wesselhoft, R-Moore, successfully made a motion to limit the time of debate. Democrats, who are outnumbered 72-29, attempted various parliamentary procedures to delay action on the bill.

It was the first dust-up this year on the House floor between Democrats and Republicans. The first month of this year's session, which began Feb. 4, went by calmly.

Last year, under then-Speaker Kris Steele, R-Shawnee, action often was delayed by Democrats working with Republicans who opposed the term-limited speaker.

After more than 40 minutes, or longer than the traditional debate time on a bill, House Speaker T.W. Shannon, R-Lawton, entered the House chamber and talked with Wesselhoft; Wesselhoft then apologized for making the motion and asked that normal debate time be allowed on the bill.

About 20,000 students are enrolled in the Oklahoma Promise scholarship program, said Ben Hardcastle, spokesman for the state Regents for Higher Education. The program will receive about $63.1 million this fiscal year.

Reducing the income cap from $100,000 to $60,000 would save the state about $1.7 million and affect about 500 students a year, Osborn said.
Her intent, she said, was not to find savings for a proposed quarter-percent cut in the state personal income tax, which would cost the state about $120 million annually when fully implemented.

The program was created 21 years ago; to qualify then, a family could make no more than $24,000 a year. That later rose to $32,000 and then to $50,000. To ensure funding, the Legislature several years ago stopped funding it as part of the appropriations process for higher education; instead it is funded before the appropriations process begins.



Bill to limit Oklahoma scholarships program ignites House battle

BY RANDY KREHBIEL, World Staff Writer
Tulsa World
Tuesday, March 05, 2013
3/5/2013 7:10:34 AM

OKLAHOMA CITY - A bill to reduce eligibility for the Oklahoma's Promise scholarship program turned into the first all-out House floor fight of the session on Monday.

Contentious enough on its own merit, House Bill 1721 by Rep. Leslie Osborn, R-Mustang, became a battleground over power and priorities when the Republican majority moved to limit debate on the measure. The Democratic minority kept the House tied up for more than an hour with a succession of motions and parliamentary maneuvers requiring 13 roll call votes until the Republicans relented.

The actual vote on the bill - 56-37 in favor with eight absent - was something of an anti-climax.

Osborn said Oklahoma's Promise, started in the 1990s strictly for low-income families, had outgrown its original intent and needed to be trimmed back. Osborn said the cost of the program has gone from $4.5 million in 2002 to $63 million.

Democrats - and a few Republicans - argued against anything that discourages Oklahomans from going to college.

The scholarship program pays tuition for students who sign up in the eighth grade [BF - or 9th or 10th grade] and maintain certain academic and behavioral standards. Eligible households can have no more than $50,000 in gross adjusted income when the student enters the program in eighth grade [BF - or 9th or 10th grade] and no more than $100,000 in the final year of high school.

Osborn's bill, as amended by Rep. Lee Denney, R-Cushing, would lower the second maximum to $60,000.

Osborn could not say how much the new limit would save the state or how many students would be affected, but Minority Leader Scott Inman, D-Del City, said the changes would cut $1.7 million and eliminate the eligibility of about 500 students.

Democrats badgered Denney, during questions on her amendment, about why Republicans believed the state couldn't afford $1.7 million for college scholarships while advocating a $160 million reduction in income and franchise taxes. When Rep. Paul Wesselhoft, R-Moore, moved to advance the question - a parliamentary move that limits debate to a total of 15 minutes - Inman declared war on the majority.

All agreements to limit delaying tactics, he said, were off.

"Reverse this decision and we'll go away from here singing 'Kumbaya'," Inman said. "If you don't, my caucus will fight and scratch for everything we can get."

Finally, Wesselhoft apologized for his motion, saying it was made out of frustration that some of his bills weren't on the floor calendar. The motion was rescinded and the normal full hour of debate followed.

At the end, eight Republicans joined all 29 Democrats in opposition to the measure.


Original Print Headline: Bill to limit scholarships program fires House battle
________________________________________
Randy Krehbiel 918-581-8365
randy.krehbiel at tulsaworld.com



Oklahoma House passes higher ed aid restriction
BY DAN HOLTMEYER
March 5, 2013
Journal Record Legislative Report

Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma House of Representatives voted Monday to limit the students eligible for a statewide college-aid program amid fears that rising costs could jeopardize the tuition payments for many low-income students who rely on them.

By a 56-37 vote, the House narrowly cleared a proposal from state Rep. Leslie Osborn, R-Mustang, that would restrict the families eligible for the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program, also known as Oklahoma's Promise. It now heads to the Senate.

Currently, the program pays public tuition costs to students who meet certain academic standards if their families also meet two requirements: earning less than $50,000 when the students apply in eighth, ninth or 10th grade and earning less than $100,000 when the students start college. Osborn's bill would change that final requirement to less than $60,000.

Osborn said the bill would save the program for the neediest students. She pointed to the program's budget, which she said has ballooned from $4.5 million in 2003 to roughly $60 million the past school year.

"Do we want to keep this program for the ones it's truly intended for?" she asked the chamber. "Or do we want the costs to escalate so much that we end up losing it for everybody?"

That was not enough to convince Democrats, along with several of Osborn's fellow Republicans. After attempting to derail the bill's vote, opponents described the bill in soaring rhetoric as breaking a promise to some Oklahoma students and preventing them from making it to college.

"Are we going to send these kids into minimum-wage jobs?" said state Rep. James Lockhart, D-Heavener. "That's what's at stake. Let's not sell out the American dream because it's politically correct."

House Democratic leader Scott Inman said single parents could make their children ineligible simply by getting married, and he questioned how costly the program is when compared to a $120 million income tax cut embraced by most Republicans.

According to a spokesman for the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, which administers Oklahoma's Promise, Osborn's proposal would edge out 500 students from the program in August 2014's incoming class, saving $1.6 million based on current tuition. After four years, that number would grow to about 1,600 students.

"In providing scholarships to over 20,000 Oklahoma students, the program is working exceptionally well," Glen Johnson, chancellor of the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education, said in an email statement. "We do not support any efforts to restrict student access to the scholarship."

Osborn said she saw things differently.

"Those who stood up and argued against House Bill 1721 may have thought they were arguing on behalf of low-income families in their district," she said in a statement after the session, "but they are actually arguing to take scholarships from low-income families and give it to families who can afford to send their children to college."




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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