Proponents of cutting or eliminating the state’s personal income tax claim that doing so will boost the state’s economy. However, as University of Oklahoma economist Dr. Cynthia Rogers explained at our recent economists’ forum, economic research is highly inconclusive about the relationship between state taxes and economic performance. While the extent to which tax changes cause growth is not clear, the research clearly establishes that tax cuts that are funded by reducing spending on productive public goods such as infrastructure and education leads to economic decline.

While there is no clear connection between low taxes and economic success, there is a clear and strong correlation between the educational attainment of a state’s population and its economic well-being.  The chart below, created by the Massachusetts Budget Project based on 2009 Current Population Survey data,  plots all fifty states based on the percent of its workforce with a bachelor’s degree and the medium hourly wage worker of its workers. Medium hourly wage, which is the middle wage of all wages paid to workers, is one of the best measures of a state’s economic well-being because it ignores the effects of extremely high wages of a few workers and provides a fair picture of what a middle-class employee earns.

Source: Adapted from Massachusetts Budget Project, "State of Working Massachusetts, 2010)

The chart shows a statistical correlation of 0.80 between educational attainment and median wages, an exceptionally high correspondence for state-level economic data. With few exceptions, the states where workers earn most on average are the states with the most college graduates, while states with the lowest median wages are those with the fewest college graduates (notable outliers include Wyoming and Alaska, mining-rich states where more good-paying jobs are available for those without a college degree).  Despite our state’s recent economic successes, Oklahoma’s median hourly wage lags behind the national average. Oklahoma’s median wage in 2010 was $14.73 per hour, which was $1.27 per hour below the national medium wage and lower than all but ten other states (Current Population Survey data analyzed by Economic Policy Institute). At 22.7 percent, we rank 42nd in the percentage of the population with a college degree.

Oklahoma is pursuing various initiatives to increase its college graduation rate. Beginning in the late 1990′s, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education pursued the Brain Gain 2010 initiative which included the key objective of increasing the number of Oklahomans who earn a college degree.  The Oklahoma Promise scholarship program provides free tuition to qualified Oklahoma students pursuing post-secondary education and the state’s 529 College Savings program provides tax incentives that encourage families to save for college.  This past fall, Governor Mary Fallin announced Oklahoma’s participation in the national Complete College America (CCA) initiative, with the goal of increasing the number of college degrees awarded annually by 67 percent by 2023. CCA involves numerous components:

Planned projects for the initiative include a statewide redesign of remedial and developmental education; a plan to reduce remediation demands in the transition from high school to college; continued development of Reach Higher, Oklahoma’s adult degree completion program; enhanced efforts to audit and bring in line with the national norm all certificates awarded through the Cooperative Alliance program with the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education; and review and revise the Brain Gain Performance Funding program.

The state’s commitment to producing more college graduates in order to promote Oklahoma’s prosperity is well-advised.  Yet this emphasis seems fundamentally at odds with repeated rounds of budget cuts for higher education, which has seen state appropriations decline by $94 million, or 9.1 percent, over the past three years. And if we choose to make our priority immediate and ongoing tax cuts that will continue to shrink state spending, then our chances of having more Oklahomans complete college and land good-paying jobs are certain to shrink, as well.

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Benefits for veterans are an essential component of our country’s military program. Of course, there are federal veterans’ programs that provide a range of services and advantages for current and returning veterans, but the policies and implementations can vary from state to state.  Two of the most important areas in which veterans can receive benefits are education and health care. Often, a returning veteran needs re-education in order to integrate back into society—and without an accredited degree, career options are limited. Health care is also a vital provision, particularly for veterans who have been injured or disabled as a result of their service.

Oklahoma is considered one of the most veteran-friendly states—perhaps one of the top two in the nation. How does the veterans’ program in the state of Oklahoma compare to others in the country?

Health care: Oklahoma’s veteran centers and health benefits
Oklahoma has a total of 14 veteran health centers – 12 state-operated out-patient clinics and 2 federal medical centers for veterans. Oklahoma scores high marks for the number of facilities available to veterans. Eligibility requirements for care in these centers include 90 days or more of consecutive service during a major conflict, from World War II through the Iraq War. Veterans living with a significant disability are able to use these facilities with no out-of-pocket costs, and all disabled veterans have access to treatment at a reduced rate.  The medical care provided by Oklahoma’s centers for veterans include social, recreational, dietary, laboratory, X-ray, and pharmaceutical services for both in-patient and outpatient care.

Oklahoma’s education benefits for veterans
Following the post-9/11 revision to the GI Bill, which provides educational assistance to veterans and shifted funding from a flat allowance per month to tuition assistance that aligns with each state’s public higher education costs, Oklahoma has seen a surge in veterans receiving education benefits and in expenditures for education and vocational training.  During FY 2010, 12,708 veterans received education benefits in Oklahoma, a 38 percent increase from the previous year and that number is expected to grow.  Oklahoma also participates in the Veterans Educational Assistance Program, which matches voluntary contributions from military pay toward education at $2 for every $1 contributed.

Other perks for veterans in Oklahoma
In addition to the benefits for education and health care, the state of Oklahoma provides a range of benefits for veterans and their families. For example, disabled war veterans are exempt from personal property taxes, and also pay no sales taxes on purchases up to $25,000.  A bill to extend the sales tax exemption to veterans’ surviving spouses, SB 46, is currently pending in the legislature.  Veterans in this state can also receive guaranteed home loans.  Finally, Oklahoma offers reduced charges on motor vehicle registration and license plates and free hunting and fishing licenses to disabled veterans.

How other states measure up
While some states provide excellent care for veterans, others don’t perform quite so well. Michigan, for example, is possibly the worst state for veterans’ benefits. On average over the last fifty years, Oklahoma has paid out the 5th highest veteran disability benefit in the country.  Altogether, Oklahoma is a welcoming state for veterans, with a variety of services designed to take care of critical needs and provide the essential tools for veterans to re-integrate into society.

The opinions stated above are not necessarily those of OK Policy, its staff, or its board. This blog is a venue to help promote the discussion of ideas from various points of view and we invite your comments and contributions. To see our guidelines for blog submissions, click here.

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White students comprised 68.4 percent of the Freshmen class in 2009, followed by Native American students (10.3 percent), African American students (10.0 percent), and Hispanic students (4.6 percent).  Only Hispanic students enrolled in college at lower rates than one would expect given their current population of residents 18-24 years of age.  However, despite this rough initial parity in enrollment, between the first year of school and graduation day four or five years later we see a steep drop-off in the completion rates for students of color relative to white students.  The chart below shows the 5-year graduation rates for full-time equivalent students at higher education institutions in Oklahoma by race/ethnicity in 2009:

Higher education institutions in Oklahoma are graduating African American (27.1 percent), Hispanic (29.6 percent), and Native American students (33.2 percent) at markedly lower rates than their white cohorts (40.1 percent).  Graduation rates presented in the chart above represent averages across all institutions in the state, but minority graduation rates vary widely from school to school.  Click here to see a list of Oklahoma institutions by 5-year graduation rate by race in 2009.

This gap in graduation rates erects a substantial barrier to economic opportunity for minority Oklahomans. Education is fundamental to an individual’s capacity to secure employment, bring in sufficient earnings, and achieve financial security over their lifetime.  There is a strong correlation between educational attainment and income.  Countless studies also correlate educational achievement with a host of social goods, including political and civic engagement and lower crime and incarceration rates.

This past fall Governor Fallin and higher education officials announced a plan to increase the number of degrees awarded in the state by 67 percent, so that by 2023 Oklahoma colleges and universities will annually award 50,900 college degrees.  Few details of how exactly the state will boost degree completion were released, but we know that not all college completion efforts are created equal.  New data evaluating popular initiatives like Oklahoma’s Promise program reveal that they’re primarily benefiting white students and students with middle and upper incomes.

Producing more college graduates overall is a laudable goal, but without a targeted effort to improve graduation rates for students of color, an underlying education deficit with accompanying racial/ethnic inequalities will persist.  Oklahoma needs to put more emphasis on programs that provide support to our most vulnerable, low income and minority students, and insist that our higher education institutions be held accountable for wide disparities in educational attainment.  Closing the gap in educational attainment between white students and students of color is critical to reducing economic inequalities that hamper economic growth and narrow opportunities for prosperity.

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Photo by flickr user pamhule used under a Creative Commons license.

[UPDATE: A previous version of the debt-to-degree chart misidentified Northwestern Oklahoma State University as a community college when it is a four-year university. The corrected chart reflects that NWOSU has the lowest debt to degree ratio among Oklahoma's public universities.]

We’ve previously discussed the overwhelming evidence that college is a good investment both for students and the state as a whole. The need for at least some college education to get a good job is greater than ever. That’s reflected in Oklahoma by record-breaking college enrollment.

Lawmakers are also taking a growing interest in Oklahoma’s higher education system, with much of their criticism focused on tuition increases. A bill has already been introduced to return the power to approve tuition increases to the legislature, reversing a 2003 change that gave the State Regents full control.

Rising tuition is a legitimate concern. However, advertised tuition rates are not the best way to evaluate colleges and universities for a number of reasons. Due to scholarships and financial aid, fewer than half of all public university students and fewer than 18 percent of private college students pay the full “sticker price” for their education.

What may be a better metric for how well students are being served by a school are the federal loan default rates. The federal government made or guaranteed more than 80 percent of all outstanding student loans this year. If a large proportion of students are unable to pay back their loans, that is a strong indicator that they are not able to find well-paying jobs after leaving school, with or without a degree.

Oklahoma’s overall default rate was sixth highest in the nation at 10.77 percent, compared to a national average of 8.8 percent. However, as the below chart shows, default rates varied widely between schools.

This shows the percentage of students at Oklahoma colleges and universities who defaulted on federal student loans between FY ‘07 and FY ’09. Schools are divided into three groups: public community colleges, public universities, and private universities.

The data comes from the U.S. Department of Education. You can download specific numbers for Oklahoma schools as a spreadsheet here.

Students at public universities generally had higher default rates than those at private universities, but the best performing public universities were also the largest. Students at OU and OSU had loan default rates of just 3.4 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively. These two schools did better than all of other public and private colleges except for Southern Nazarene University, which posted a rate of 3.1 percent, and Oklahoma City University, with a default rate of 3.3 percent.

The best performing community college was Tulsa Community College, which posted a default rate of 11.0 percent, while the worst was Eastern Oklahoma State College, with a rate of 18.7 percent. The worst-performing private college was the the Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology, with a default rate of 14.2 percent. Among public 4-year schools, Langston University performed especially poorly, with 17.7 percent of students defaulting on loans.

Community colleges in general fared worse than most public and private 4-year universities. However, we should keep in mind that community college students as a group are less economically secure than those attending 4-year schools, and even after graduating, they face a tougher job market in most fields than do applicants with bachelor’s degrees. Community colleges must also accept all applicants, while universities are able to selectively admit the students most likely to succeed.

Another way to look at the situation is the debt to degree ratio. Using data from Education Sector, this chart shows the the total amount of money borrowed by undergraduates at Oklahoma post-secondary schools divided by the total number of degrees awarded. [Click the chart to see a full-sized version.]

When we combine these measures, OU comes out looking like the best deal with both a very low student default rate and a relatively low debt to degree ratio. Carl Albert State College has a significantly lower debt to degree ratio than any other, yet has one of the worst loan default rates at 16.0 percent. Relative to other community colleges, TCC performs well on both measures.

In what may be a sign of serious trouble for particular schools, some fare badly on both measures. Langston University is the most obvious poorly-performing outlier in the public higher education system. Among private schools, Bacone College, the Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology, and St. Gregory’s University share the dubious distinction of having both high default rates and a high debt to degree ratio.

Across different types of colleges, the debt to degree ratio is in some respects a mirror image of the student loan default rate. While community college students are most likely to default, these schools leave students with the least amount of debt per degree awarded. Conversely, most private university students have significantly higher debts but are less likely to default. If nothing else, this should tell us that keeping tuition low is no silver bullet for helping students to succeed.

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What’s up this week at Oklahoma Policy Institute? The Weekly Wonk is dedicated to this week’s events, publications, and blog posts.

This week OK Policy released a paper showing that state costs under the new federal health care law are likely to be modest and could even yield net savings.  Click here to access a 1-page summary of our issue brief: Health Care Reform and the State Budget: Savings Likely to Partly or Fully Offset Modest New Costs.

OK Policy testified this week before the Joint Committee on the Federal Health Care Law.  Click here for our presentation exploring Oklahoma’s options for implementing state health insurance exchanges, a major requirement of the new law.  Read the Tulsa World’s coverage of our paper along with a summary of the committee meeting.

OK Policy intern Emily Callen explains why higher education remains a strong investment for Oklahomans and the state as a whole.  Yesterday’s OK Policy Blog points to evidence that the state’s personal income tax has very little to do with businesses’ decisions to locate in Oklahoma or elsewhere.  Oklahoma Policy Institute was mentioned in a NewsOK piece that called for thorough, numbers-based analysis, not platitudes, in the tax reform debate.

In the Know, Policy Notes

• Economist Mark Thoma explains in MSN Money why we have room to spread the wealth without harming efficiency and growth.
• Economist Nancy Folbre discusses gender differences in economic hardship during the recession.
• An economic historian shows that consumer spending, amplified by government outlays, are what created most growth in the last century, not business investment.
• Stateline reports on how Oregon may become the next national health care model for seeking to control costs while improving public health through community care.
• A new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds that the Affordable Care Act will not adversely affect employer-sponsored health insurance coverage.

Numbers of the Week

• 533 – Number of operating school districts in Oklahoma for the 2010-2011 school year, 9th most in the nation.
• 5.9 percent – Oklahoma’s unemployment rate for September 2011, up slightly from the previous month’s rate of 5.6 percent.
• 3,632 – Number of bankruptcy filings in Oklahoma during the 2nd quarter of this year, down 14 percent from the same quarter in 2010.
• 58 – Number of USDA certified organic farms in Oklahoma, representing just one half of one percent of the 10,903 certified organic farms in the United States in 2008.

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Photo by flickr user pamhule used under a Creative Commons license.

Last month, Governor Fallin released her plan  to increase by two-thirds the number of students graduating from Oklahoma’s public colleges and universities. At the same time, some Oklahoma lawmakers and other critics are questioning the state’s spending on higher education, arguing that colleges and universities should face the same budget cutbacks as other areas of government and the legislature should limit tuition increases.

Tuition and fees in Oklahoma remain comparatively inexpensive, but we have not avoided the nationwide trend of rising costs at both public and private universities. We certainly should take this trend seriously and work to ensure college is affordable and accessible to students from diverse backgrounds.

Yet even though the cost is rising, the value of a college education remains very high. Oklahoma should maintain strong investments in higher education for several reasons:

1) College is a solid investment both for students and the state as a whole.

The Hamilton Project calculated that “on average, the benefits of a four-year college degree are equivalent to an investment that returns 15.2% per year.” College outperforms virtually any other investment, from the stock market to government bonds to gold. While the upfront costs of college attendance are considerable and may represent a barrier for many potential students, those who are able to attend college realize substantial gains in lifetime earnings.

Higher education is also a good investment for the state of Oklahoma. Regional Economic Models, Inc. studied the impact of higher education on the state’s economy. The study, performed for the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, estimated that for every dollar the state spends on higher education, $5.15 is injected into the state’s economy. This increased economic activity primarily comes from college and university employee spending and institutional spending on goods and services. Over time, college graduates will earn more than non-graduates, which also boosts economic activity.

Critics of Oklahoma’s higher education system cite the movement of graduates out of the state as evidence of an oversupply of college educated workers. In reality, 78 percent of bachelor’s degree recipients who graduated in 2007 were employed in Oklahoma a year later, and 86 percent of associate degree recipients were employed in the state.

2) Some college is better than no college, even without a degree.

A common target for those critical of higher education is the number of students who begin a college degree program but never finish. According to Complete College America, in Oklahoma less than 10 percent of associate degree-seeking students graduate within two years, and less than 25 percent graduate in four years. Students seeking bachelor’s degrees fare better: 19 percent graduate in four years, and 50 percent graduate within six years.

Low graduation rates are certainly a legitimate concern, especially at regional and community colleges, but there is evidence that students benefit from attending college, whether or not they graduate. The Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University found that, on average, an individual with some college but no degree can expect to earn $200,000 more over a lifetime than someone with only a high school diploma. Even those with jobs that do not require degrees, like plumbers or cashiers, earn more with some college education.

That’s because college is not just about the piece of paper earned at the end. Students also learn to meet deadlines, work collaboratively on projects, broaden their social circles, and make connections that can help them find jobs in the future. They learn new ways of thinking that can help them recognize opportunities in almost any career, even if their classes aren’t focused on specific job skills.

3) The demand for workers with some training beyond high school is expected to rise.

An educated workforce is a public good, attracting businesses to the state and fueling innovation. Employers recognize the value of educated workers, which is why people with more education tend to be paid more. Even if some graduates leave Oklahoma, many more are retained who would have sought higher education elsewhere were it not available in state.

Data presented by the Lumina Foundation about employment levels of graduates versus non-graduates.

Despite some misguided assertions, Oklahoma is not experiencing a glut of overeducated workers. According to the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University, “[t]he overall demand for postsecondary education and training will continue to grow. This is true not only of high-tech industries, but even in wholesale and retail trade or personal services, where more than 50 percent of the workforce requires some postsecondary education beyond high school.”

Complete College America projects that by 2020, 59 percent of Oklahoma jobs will require a career certificate or a college degree. Currently, only 30 percent of Oklahoma adults have an associate degree or higher.

The rising cost of higher education remains troubling, and in a future post we will provide some recommendations on how to keep tuition and other costs under control. But in our efforts to control costs, we should not lose sight of the great value higher education creates for all of us.

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In The Know is a daily synopsis of Oklahoma policy-related news and blogs.  Inclusion of a story does not necessarily mean endorsement by the Oklahoma Policy Institute. E-mail your suggestions for In The Know items to gperry@okpolicy.org. You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.

State Treasurer Ken Miller criticized Gov. Fallin and legislative leadership for crafting a disappointing business-as-usual budget agreement.  Public colleges and universities facing higher enrollment will have to raise tuition rates and shrink staff after $44 million in budget cuts during the past two years.  Citizens and lawmakers rallied against the scheduled closure of seven parks across the state.  The Oklahoma House passed a bill requiring DHS to make a plan to close two facilities that care for 250 severely disable residents.

On Wednesday the Senate reconsidered and approved a $70M transportation bond issue that was central to the state’s FY ’12 budget agreement.  Legislative leaders announced the creation of a special joint committee that will hold public meetings on federal health-care reform during the interim.  The Oklahoman has an editorial criticizing policymakers for including schools in an ongoing political battle over gun rights.

A bill to abolish the Indian Affairs Commission passed the House Wednesday and a $40 million bond issue to finish the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum is dead for the year.  The Norman City Council discussed how to spend the surplus revenue raised by a half-cent sales tax increase.  The governor signed a bill putting the Oklahoma Human Rights Commission under the auspices of the attorney general’s office.

In today’s Policy Note, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research examines the changes to employment policies and practices mandated as part of sex and race employment discrimination litigation.

Read on for more.

In The News

Oklahoma treasurer says budget deal falls short

State Treasurer Ken Miller tweaks fellow Republicans, including Gov. Mary Fallin and legislative leaders, in the May issue of his monthly economic report.  Miller calls the budget agreement between Fallin and legislative leaders for fiscal year 2012 disappointing and a missed opportunity that focuses “on math rather than outcomes.”   “This agreement is particularly disappointing because it is the first time in Oklahoma history that a budget has been crafted with complete Republican control and yet it falls short,” he wrote. “This was our first real opportunity to rightsize government, implement priority-based budgeting and to prove commitment to public education.”

Read more from the Tulsa World here http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=504&articleid=20110519_504_A11_CUTLIN706256

Funding cuts, enrollment increases put pressure on Oklahoma colleges

College tuition likely will increase next year if Oklahoma legislators approve an approximately 5 percent cut in state appropriations for higher education, several college presidents said. They said they will work to keep the increase in the single digits.  Enrollment in the state system of higher education increased by 16,000 students between the fall of 2008 and the fall of 2010, creating a need for more classes and resources. Meanwhile, state appropriations, which account for about 41 percent of the higher education budget this fiscal year, have been reduced by $44 million during the past two years.

Read more from The Oklahoman here http://newsok.com/funding-cuts-enrollment-increases-put-pressure-on-oklahoma-colleges/article/3569242#ixzz1Mnna0XQZ

A rally at the Capitol is held to protest the scheduled closure of seven state parks.

Lawmakers and others on Wednesday held a small rally on the first floor of the State Capitol to protest the planned closure of seven state parks.  Park closings have been discussed for several years and are the result of budget cuts, according to the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation.  The state would save approximately $700,000 by closing the parks, said Leslie Blair, the department’s public information officer.

Read more from the Tulsa World here http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=504&articleid=20110519_16_A1_CUTLIN195258&rss_lnk=12

Oklahoma House passes bill making changes at facilities that care for severely disabled

The Oklahoma House has passed a bill requiring the Department of Human Services to develop a plan to change or discontinue operations at two state-operated facilities that care for about 250 severely disabled residents.  The bill passed 52-48 Wednesday and now heads to the Senate.  It requires DHS to submit a plan to the Legislature by Jan. 1. Supporters say the measure includes input from the families and guardians of residents and employees of the Enid and Pauls Valley facilities.

Read more from the Associated Press here http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/9dfc9e8d318048d68006dd2a4900eb62/OK-XGR–Severely-Disabled-Centers/

Senate reconsidered and approved a $70 million transportation bond issue, 29-18, on Wednesday after narrowly defeating the measure a day earlier.

The Republican-controlled Senate reconsidered and approved a $70 million transportation bond issue, 29-18, on Wednesday after narrowly defeating the measure a day earlier. The bill, which now heads to Fallin, was a key piece of the budget deal reached by GOP legislative leaders and the governor.  Lawmakers are diverting $100 million from the Department of Transportation’s road and bridge fund as part of the deal to close a $500 million hole in the budget, and the bond issue will allow the department to keep its transportation projects on schedule.

Read more from this Associated Press article here http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/f329327f301046a598e4497c5e640e9c/OK-XGR–Okla-Legislature/

White flag raised on health care

Legislative leaders signaled surrender, at least for now, on the issue of insurance exchanges Wednesday, announcing the creation of a special joint committee on the matter and the shelving of all related legislation.   House Speaker Kris Steele, R-Shawnee, and Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, said two Tulsa Republican lawmakers, Rep. Glen Mulready and Sen. Gary Stanislawski, will lead the committee, which will hold public meetings on federal health-care reform.   “The scope of this law is vast,” Steele said. “We need to make sure we are prepared to address this law in a conservative way that is best for Oklahoma.”

Read more from the Tulsa World here http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=504&articleid=20110519_504_A14_OKLAHO182117&rss_lnk=12

Policymakers should keep schools out of battle over gun rights

Of the many gun bills filed at the beginning of this legislative session, only one remains. Here’s hoping Gov. Mary Fallin won’t let it stand.  Schools and guns generally aren’t a good mix. In debates on this bill and others to allow guns on college campuses, administrators and security officials have argued that loosening restrictions would make it difficult to tell the good guys from the bad guys in a crisis and would put students and educators at risk.  “I’m just heartsick about this,” Kara Gae Neal, superintendent of Tulsa Technology Center, told the Tulsa World. She said altering the ban could endanger some federal funding.

Read more from The Oklahoman here http://newsok.com/policymakers-should-keep-schools-out-of-battle-over-gun-rights/article/3569195#ixzz1Mni7wTiX

Bill abolishes Indian Affairs Commission, creates liaison in governor’s office

Oklahoma, a state with 39 federally recognized Native American tribes, will have a liaison in the governor’s office instead of a nine-member Indian Affairs Commission if HB 2172 becomes law. It is well on its way, having passed the House Wednesday evening by 57-36 after an often intense debate. Its emergency clause failed.  Rep. Paul Wesselhoft, R-Moore, said that many tribal leaders were unaware of the measure’s existence, and should be given an opportunity to have input on such a bill so important to their interests.

Read more from 23^rd & Lincoln here http://journalrecord.com/23rd-and-Lincoln/2011/05/19/bill-abolishes-indian-affairs-commission-creates-liason-in-governors-office/

$40 million Indian cultural center bond dead for the year

Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, said the bill to fund completion of the project won’t be heard because of remaining questions about the project’s finances and a general concern among Republican senators about increasing the state’s debt load.  Three previous state bond issues have put $67.4 million into the partially completed project at the intersection of Interstate 35 and Interstate 40. With federal, city and private money, some $91 million has been invested in the project

Read more from this Tulsa World here http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20110519_16_A1_CUTLIN904400

City council debates use of PSST funds

Sometime next year, city officials believe the Public Safety Sales Tax will have generated enough money to pay for the commitments made to voters in May 2008.  Dozens of firefighters and police officers have been hired.  Fire Station 8, on the city’s west side, officially opened Wednesday and No. 9 is in the design process.  The half-cent sales tax for public safety, approved by voters more than three years ago, generated $7.6 million in fiscal year 2010 and is expected to surpass that amount this year.

Read more from the Norman Transcript here http://normantranscript.com/local/x57645675/City-council-debates-use-of-PSST-funds

Governor signs bill putting human rights agency under AG’s office

Gov. Mary Fallin signed legislation Wednesday that puts the Oklahoma Human Rights Commission under the attorney general’s office. Backers of Senate Bill 763 say the consolidation is intended to save money by sharing administrative services.  “Protecting human rights is an important function of government and I support the goal of eliminating discrimination,” Fallin said. “Merging the responsibilities and duties of the Human Rights Commission into the attorney general’s office will result in cost savings and will better serve to elevate the mission of protecting human rights.”

Read more from The Oklahoman here http://newsok.com/governor-signs-bill-putting-human-rights-agency-under-ags-office/article/3569309#ixzz1Mnn82N6Q

Quote of the Day

“Many of our residents are elderly or low-income, and our state parks are the only form of free recreation for family outings that are available,” said Rep. Seneca Scott, D-Tulsa

Number of the Day

99

U.S. service member casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan from Oklahoma.

Source: The Washington Post

See previous Numbers of the Day here.

Policy Note

Ending Sex and Race Discrimination in the Workplace: Legal Interventions That Push the Envelope

This report examines the changes to employment policies and practices mandated as part of sex and race employment discrimination litigation. The report is based on the analysis of more than 500 consent decrees (court supervised pre-trial settlements) that were negotiated by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) or private law firms, and in-depth study of the negotiation and implementation of four sex discrimination consent decrees. It makes recommendations on how to improve the effectiveness and reach of employment discrimination consent decrees. The research was made possible by generous funding from the Ford Foundation.

You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.

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In 2003, late Senator Keith Leftwich authored a bill to extend scholarships, financial aid, and resident tuition eligibility at state colleges and universities to the undocumented children of undocumented Oklahoma residents.  Essentially, the law allowed for high school students without U.S. citizenship status to receive the same treatment as their classmates: resident tuition and the chance to compete for scholarships and financial aid. It was a quintessentially American gesture – any young person brought to the state as a dependent child would not be denied a chance to succeed because of circumstances that were beyond their control.

The bill passed the state legislature with the support of several prominent Republicans, including the sitting Attorney General Scott Pruitt, the sitting Secretary of State Glenn Coffee, and currently serving Senators Harry Coates and Cliff Branan.  Saul Munoz started making plans.  When the bill became law he enrolled at Tulsa Community College.  Resident tuition payments at the community college were manageable if he worked full-time and he eventually transferred to a four-year state university.  After taking time off from his studies to do religious mission work, he has re-enrolled to complete his degree and hopes to attend graduate school.  Saul is not sure where he would be today without the legislature’s action in 2003 and he doesn’t like to think about it.

Not long after the bill’s passage, groups hostile to undocumented immigrants used the law as campaign fodder against both Democrats and Republicans, accusing them of using tax dollars to subsidize ‘illegal aliens.’  Elected officials responded in 2007 with a partial repeal of the law embedded in immigration bill HB 1804, blocking undocumented students from receiving scholarships and financial aid.  Resident tuition waivers were left up to the Regents for Higher Education, who continue to offer them to eligible undocumented students.  There were 272 undocumented students enrolled in Oklahoma higher education institutions during the 2008-2009 school-year.  This represents one tenth of one percent (.11) of total enrollment; only 16 of those students received resident tuition waivers.  Despite the claim that tax-payers are subsidizing ‘illegal aliens’, the amount in tuition and fees paid into the higher education system by undocumented students – $1,074,693 between 2005 and 2009 – far exceeded the amount the state waived for in-state status ($254,026).

This session there are two bills working their way through the legislative process that seek to turn the clock back entirely.  SB 683, a standalone bill, and HB 1446, an omnibus immigration bill, would deny even residency status to undocumented high school residents enrolling in public colleges and universities.  Students opposed to the bills visited the Capitol in March to urge lawmakers not to pass SB 683, a measure that “would cripple the growth of future highly qualified professionals in Oklahoma.”  The Senate passed the bill that same day with a 32 (Y) to 13 (N) vote.

Designations like ‘undocumented’ and ‘illegal’ obscure the reality of the lives of the friends, classmates, and neighbors that they apply to – people like Saul Munoz.  Working hard, earning the respect of your teachers and peers, and striving to get ahead is as American an ethic as any.  If lawmakers listened to the better angels of their nature, instead of the ill-formed fears of a narrow constituency, they wouldn’t be working against Saul and the hundreds of Oklahoma students just like him.

*Name changed to protect the student’s privacy.

Update:  For a final update on these bills, see Where Are They Now? Bills we kept our eye on

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The College Board report includes a series of recommendations to simplify and strengthen the system of federal aid. The recommendation presented to us involved the creation of Education Savings Accounts for students from low income backgrounds. The idea would be for the federal government to make annual deposits into children’s accounts proportional to the amount of the federal Pell Grant for which children would be eligible, based on family size and income. These accounts would grow over time through additional deposits and investment earnings, and could then be used for eligible college expenditures at a wide range of post-secondary institutions. The accounts would remain available for adults who defer attending college, but the funds would revert to the government in cases where individuals opt not to pursue post-secondary studies. The cost of the program would depend on the age at which deposits began and the proportion of the Pell award used to calculate deposits. The report calculates that if deposits were pegged at 10 percent of Pell grants (which currently range from $430 to $4,731) starting at age 12, the
program would reach 12.6 million families and cost $2.8 billion per year at current college participation rates.

With adequate funding, Education Savings Accounts would establish a financial basis for students from low income backgrounds to use in paying for college. Almost all students who qualify for a Pell Grant at the time of applying for college – which currently extends to households with incomes up to $45,000 per year – would bring a savings account with them. The savings accounts would go a long way towards bridging the gap between college costs and the amounts currently available to students in grants and scholarships, and reduce reliance on student loans that force many students to abandon their studies and saddle graduates with substantial long-term debts. Just as importantly, Education Savings Accounts, by accruing from an early age, would create a significant change in expectations among students and families who currently simply do not see college as a feasible option on the horizon.

One can certainly point out flaws with the College Board variation on children’s savings accounts. For one thing, by tying eligibility to current Pell Grant standards, the program would exclude children of families in the $45,000 to $80,000 range in particular that already fall in the gap between affordability and assistance. Secondly, at least in its initial design, the program does not provide for private contributions to children’s account, thereby missing an opportunity to encourage savings habits and to help accounts grow.

In Oklahoma, a 2005 task force recommended public contributions to 529 college savings plans for children in low- and moderate-income families; bills to implement the recommendations have been introduced in recent sessions but have failed to gain much momentum. Policymakers have focused resources on funding OHLAP, or Oklahoma’s Promise, as well as providing substantial tax deductions for private 529 plan contributions. This still leaves a gap – OHLAP covers tuition and fees but not room and board, equipment, and supplies, and is not available to everyone – waiting to be filled. The idea of publicly-supported education savings accounts is one you can expect to hear more about.

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