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<TITLE>Bills introduced for 2010 session of Oklahoma Legislature</TITLE>
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<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Following are six bills that have been introduced for the 2010 session of the Oklahoma Legislature related to our state financial aid programs. All</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">the bills</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">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.</FONT></SPAN></P>
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<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">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: </FONT></SPAN><A HREF="http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2009-10SB/SB1341_int.rtf"><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2009-10SB/SB1341_int.rtf</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
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<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">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: </FONT></SPAN><A HREF="http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2009-10SB/SB1942_int.rtf"><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2009-10SB/SB1942_int.rtf</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
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<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">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: </FONT></SPAN><A HREF="http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2009-10HB/HB2632_int.rtf"><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2009-10HB/HB2632_int.rtf</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
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<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">HB 2966 - (Brannon) - Would exclude any military pay for hostile fire, combat, hazardous duty or imminent danger received by the parent</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">when considering the family income limits for student participation.</FONT><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> Text: </FONT></SPAN><A HREF="http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2009-10HB/HB2966_int.rtf"><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2009-10HB/HB2966_int.rtf</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">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: </FONT></SPAN><A HREF="http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2009-10HB/HB3100_int.rtf"><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2009-10HB/HB3100_int.rtf</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">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: </FONT></SPAN><A HREF="http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2009-10HB/HB3156_int.rtf"><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2009-10HB/HB3156_int.rtf</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">We'll try to keep you updated.</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Let me know if you have any questions.</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Bryce Fair</FONT></SPAN>
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<P><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Bryce Fair</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Associate Vice Chancellor for Scholarships & Grants</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Phone: 405-225-9162</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Fax: 405-225-9392</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">e-mail: bfair@osrhe.edu <</FONT></SPAN><A HREF="mailto:bfair@osrhe.edu"><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">mailto:bfair@osrhe.edu</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Mailing address:</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">P.O. Box 108850</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Oklahoma City, OK 73101-8850</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Street address:</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">655 Research Parkway, Suite 200</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Oklahoma City, OK 73104</FONT></SPAN>
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