Legislative Updates
  from Gene Benson, OTA Executive Director
 
Post date:
3.3.08

 Legislative Call to Action:  SJR 59 is the worst bill facing Common and Career education this year.  It lowers the ad valorem cap on increased values from 5% to 3%.  When taxes have been reduced for many state sources, it is vitally important that we resist reduction of local taxes by the state.  School districts already face a difficult financial situation.

 


Action Requested:   Call your Senator and request a “no” vote against  SJR 59

 

Passage of the bill will damage education.

 

How can you replace funding lost for education when there are not state funds available?

 

Note:    Hundreds of calls are needed now.  We expect the bill to be heard in committee or on the floor of the Senate within the next seven or eight days.

 

Senate Phone # 405-524-0126.  Personal visits are best, followed by calls, letters, and email.  Individual office contact information can be found at www.lsb.state.ok.us.

 

The 1017 fund is $37 million short and the lottery is $4.5 million  short for a total of $41.6 million short.  THAT IS GOING TO RESULT IN YOUR STATE AID BEING PRORATED STARTING IN MARCH IF A SUPPLEMENTAL IS NOT IN SIGHT BY THEN. CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS IMMEDIATELY ON THIS MATTER.  The prorated amount will result in you getting about $41 less per weighted student than what you are entitled to THIS YEAR.  Superintendent and the State Board of Education have sent a request for supplemental funding to the legislature.

 

 

SB 1941 is a very complicated school security bill by Senator Lamb.  It appears to cause a lot of problems for schools that are unnecessary.  It prevents polling places from being located in school buildings, requires 3 lock down drills per year and creates other liability for schools that they do not now have.  For instance, you would be charged with evaluating and providing counseling to any student who "appeared" to be prone to cause problems  I can only imagine the law suits that one could cause. 

 

In addition, SB 1941 charges schools to monitor "electronic communication including but not limited to telephone, cell phones, other electronic communications and computers" to identify incoming harassment, intimidation or bullying of students, factually and staff regardless of whether to communication originated at school or on school equipment.  This appears to be a very broad charge that potentially creates a huge liability for the technology administrators and the school district.  I do not even know HOW or IF this can be done.  It implies to me that all cell phone, telephone calls, instant messages and email would have to be monitored by a school employee.  Again, we need you to contact your legislators and urge them to vote no on SB 1941 in its present form as it will be very expensive and difficult to implement.

 

 
Post Date: 
2.25.08

Well the session is rolling merrily along and it appears to be business as usual.  The excise board has certified that there will be $114 million LESS money this year for the budget, there is still talk of teacher pay raises and there were 42 tax cut bills APPROVED by the revenue and taxation committee on Tuesday.  Other good? News, the 1017 fund is $37 million dollars short and needs a supplemental OR your school will be PRORATED on its state aid THIS YEAR.  Let you elected representatives know what that you expect education to be funded.  Remind them that this is a problem they created when they voted for over $830 million in tax cuts that take effect this year.  The looming recession will compound this problem greatly in the next couple of years therefore the Governor is not willing to tap into the rainy day fund to fix  a problem created by permanent tax cuts.  It is likely that a standstill budget is one of the best outcomes we can expect this year and hope we can prevent unfunded, mandated teacher raises in this election year.

 

Representative Jeff Hickman's bill (HB 2574) to MANDATE 150 minutes per week of P.E. In elementary school has passed out of committee and is now on the House floor for full house approval.  This is a bill that will divert a LOT of time from academic subjects leaving less time to meet other mandates such as AIDS education etc.  Further, it will leave less time for preparing for state mandated testing, meeting AYP and will require more facilities (gyms etc.) and teachers.   Contact Representative Hickman IMMEDIATELY to explain how this bill will affect your school district.  His email address is jwhickman@okhouse.gov    and his capital phone number is 405-557-7339.  This is important as this bill is progressing and has a lot of support.

 

HB 3122 by Representative Tad Jones changes to school year from 180 days with 175 days of instruction to the school year being 1080 hours with the equivalent of 2 days being allowed for professional development.  This would, in effect, mandate 3 more days taught without any additional funds to pay cooks, bus drivers, fuel for busses, utilities for classrooms, janitorial services etc.  Also, every Study that I have seen on effective schools  stresses the importance of professional development and this would take 2 of those days from you. 

 

All in all, it has not been a fun week at the capital, I would have rather been fishing, even with this weather.

 

 

Gene Benson, Executive Director

OTA

405-880-7634

 

Post Date: 
3.22.07
CONGRATULATIONS AND THANK YOU.    All of your hard work in calling and coming to the capital and getting your people involved with legislators has paid off.  I believe that these actions helped greatly in getting the supplemental passed and getting HB 1485 amended to the point that we are currently very happy with it.
 
HB 1485--  As I told you earlier it was amended to take out all of the exemptions.  The only thing it presently does is to require assessors to use a national list of equipment, values and standard depreciation.  The assessors and Visual Lease tell us this national guide is better for us than the present system in place.  The only chore now is to make sure the bill is not amended in the Senate to change the agreement that is in place.
 
The supplemental is approximately $60 million, HOWEVER, this figure includes $18.8 million for the ad valorem reimbursement fund thus leaving  about $41 million of the original $58 that we were requesting.  PLUS the $17 million shortfall in the lottery money WAS NOT INCLUDED.  The State Dept. Of Education will now have enough money that you can throw away those proration letters you got last week.  You will get all of that money and maybe a little bit more.  The supplemental actually paid the fixed costs, the new teachers and the flex benefit shortage.  IT DID NOT PAY FOR FEDERAL TEACHERS AND DID NOT FUND THE LOTTERY SHORTFALL, so in reality we are still over $30 million dollars in unfunded mandates (my opinion only, others think that you have now been fully funded).  There is more good news in the new budget---all of this supplemental money has been rolled into our appropriation for next year which meals the only unfunded mandate remaining is the pay raise for federal teachers.
 
More good news.  Teachers will receive a $600 raise next year as promised in the strategy to reach the regional average.  This money is included in the appropriation bill and is inside the formula(we, semi good news).
 
EESIP is fully funded in the new budget agreement.  The cap now goes to $80,000.  Again congratulations, this is a victory for all of education.  Now we have only the final step next year and we will have accomplished something that will make education a better and more appealing career for decades to come. 
 
CONTRATULATIONS AGAIN, I think that we have been hugely successful in a year when there is not a lot of new money, tax cuts are starting to kick in and even more tax cuts have been passed in this session. BUT YOU JOB IS NOT DONE, Please contact your legislators and thank them personally for what they have done for education this year.  It took strong people to stand up and say education should be funded early and that we have to have the money with the mandates.  Also standing up to the big oil companies that spend huge amounts of money is difficult.  Also you need to thank your local farm organizations, they were huge in getting HB 1485 taken care of.  They include the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Oklahoma Farmers Union, Oklahoma Cattlemens Association, Oklahoma Wheat Commission, Oklahoma Association of Co-ops, Poultry Federation, and others.  They came out in mass against this bill as it was originally written.
 
Thanks for all you do for kids!1
 
 

2.19.07
Well, the first two weeks of the session are in the books.  All of the bills have gone through 2nd reading in the house of origin and committee work is in full progress with the deadline for bills being reported out of committee in the house of origin coming on the 22nd of this month.

We are hearing some mixed signals on the supplemental.  Overall there is support but there are comments from some new legislators that they did not create this problem and do not feel obligated to fix it.  Also there is some sentiment to just add the funds to next years appropriations and some voicing the opinion that local schools should pick up some of the cost of the raises.  Bottom line we NEED you to tell your story in your school district to your legislators.  Give them figures of what the unfunded salary and fixed costs are costing your school district and that you need the supplemental funds NOW.  We need real figures that they can relate to.  This should be done as soon as possible.  We do not need long speeches or threats just the facts as they relate to your school district.

EESIP appears to be in good shape at this time.  Thank your legislators for implementing this plan and let them know if you have already have bought back your years or are in the process and what it is going to cost you.  This money is helping to adequately fund the unfunded liability in the teachers retirement system.

Most of you remember HB1715 and the fight we had defeating it last year.  Well, it has resurfaced as HB1485 and would give the same breaks to the same oil companies as 1715 would have.  Please contact your legislator and voice your concern over this bill.  Contrary to what the oil companies are telling legislators it IS NOT DOUBLE TAXATION.  We really just want them to pay the taxes that they have been supposed to be paying for many years and as we find these assets and get them on the tax rolls(as they should have been for years) the oil companies to not want to pay their fair share.

There are many tax cut bills being considered, as soon as we figure out which specific ones will be considered I will let you know more. 

 
Thanks for all you do for kids.
 
Gene Benson, Executive Director
OTA
1413 Oakfield Ct.
Stillwater, OK
405-880-7634--cell
405-743-2919--Home
405-533-3721--Fax