Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 14, 1977)
The Establishment o€ a TAX CREDIT for Tuition: HB 2429 To help persons meet the expenses of higher education through a comprehensive and easily administered program, HB 2429 has been introduced by Eugene area Representatives, Grat tan Kerans, Mary Burrows, Dave Frohnmayer, Ted Kulongoski, and Senators Ed Fadeley and George Wingard at the request of the Oregon Student Lobby. This bill authorizes a credit against the income tax liability for resident individuals as a partial offset against amounts paid for tuition, required fees and books at institutions of higher education paid by Oregon taxpayers for their own education or that of another person, such as a dependent. The tax credit authorized by HB 2429 will be calculated at 8% of such expense up to $1,000 and 4% of the expenses from $ 1,000 up to $2,500, or a maximum of $ 140 per student. At present tuition rates, the credit to be received for resident undergraduates in the State System of Higher Education for three terms of enrollment would be almost $60 per year. As a means of helping students meet the expenses of higher education, this program is attractive because of the relative ease by which it would be administered. To take advantage of the tax credit, an Oregon taxpayer would simply have to follow the instructions on the Oregon income tax form by filling in the proper amounts in the appropriate spaces. Eligibility for this program would not depend on going through the time consuming and complicated process required for receiving financial aid through the traditional program. The establishment of a partial tax credit for tuition is further called for by the theory of economic efficiency. Under the present tax code, if a person or business makes a capital investment for equipment, for example, he is allowed to write off the entire cost of the investment against his taxable income for the useful lifetime of the investment. The partial tax credit which will be established by HB 2429 will provide for the effective exclusion of a person’s expenses for higher education from his taxable income, in much the same way as is done for other types of capital investments. The establishment of the tax credit will make a person’s investment in his “human capital” just as attractive for tax purposes as would be an investment in other capital, such as machinery for his business. The principal beneficiary of this legislation will be the student who is a dependent of an Oregon taxpayer whose income falls within the so-called “middle income” ranges, precisely the type of student who is presently poorly served by financial aid programs. In speaking with legislators about this legislation, we are encouraged and have reason to expect that we will have a chance for success in getting this through. To support this legislation, please write to members of the House Committee on Revenue and School Finance, listed in this newsletter. Student Housing SB 697 Senate Bill 697 will not suc ceed without direct participation by students who have been dis criminated against in either em ployment or housing. SB 697 prohibits landlords to discrimi nate against students in their re nting policies on the basis of “education association.” Lob bying on this issue depends upon actual case studies of the problem. Students will become a protected class, by law, if SB 697 passes. Religious, racial and sexual classes are currently legally protected. Students comprise a special class. SB 697 will make “not renting to stu dents” an unlawful practice. People who have been denied housing, (or employment) on the basis of their status as stu dents sould contact ASUO State Affairs immediately to aid pas sage of SB 697. Child Care: HB 2459 “Many Oregonians with chil dren do not seek a post secondary education because of the additional expenses,” ac cording to the Oregon Student Lobby’s rationale for appropria tion of $3.65 million to Children’s Services Division for child care assistance to student-parents. OSL goes on to explain that, “People who work currently are eligible for CSD or 4-C’s funds for child care. Students are not. Student associations have demonstrated financial commitment to pro vide assistance to student parents. The state has the re sponsibility to assist in this ef fort.” Passage of HB 2459 will pro vide child-care eligibility for all students with children, facilitat ing the education of a non traditional student population. CAPITOL GAINS Progress oS Legislation for Students in Higher Education *SB 636 Tax Savings *SB 638 Student Information *SB 697 Non-Discrimination SB 5509 OSSHE Budget (tuition) SB 5512 OSSC Budget SB 5557 Financial Aid Need Grants *HB 2429 Tuition Tax Credits *HB 2459 Child Care *HB 2667 Scholarships *HB 2702 Evaluation Release House Revenue and School Finance Committee Senate Education Committee Local Gov. & Elections Joint Ways & Means Committee Education Sub-Committee #3 Joint Ways & Means Committee Joint Ways & Means Committee House Revenue & School Finance Committee Joint Ways & Means Committee, Human Resources #4 Joint Ways & Means Committee, Education Sub-committee #3 House Education Committee HEARINGS PENDING ON ALL BILLS ^Legislation requested by Oregon Student Lobby. Money Issues: SB 5557 This amendment fortifies the previously amended appropriation of $3.59 million to $4.46 million from the General Fund to the O.S.S.C. (Oregon State Scholar ship Commission) for additional Need Grants. Specifically included in this update appropriation is $900,000 for Need Grants for mid dle income students, and $870,000 for part-time students. Without this amendment students whose families are in the middle income range cannot receive Need Grants because current funds are ex hausted at the $12,500 income level. In addition, this bill supple ments the O.S.S.C. budget as con tained in SB 5512. Students from families who earn $12,500 to $ 17,500 are forced to borrow more heavily than any other income group. As a rational ideal, public policy should afford equal access to higher education to all income groups. SB 5512 The provisions of this bill ap propriates $10.7 million from the Genera! Fund to the State Scholar ship Commission for biennial ex penses and student aid. Included in this appropriation is $4.3 million specified for Need Grants, and $701,000 specifically for Cash Awards (scholarships). HB 2667 Post-secondary students demon strating high academic achieve ment will be eligible for part of the $900,000 requested by OSL to es tablish a new merit-scholarship program. Currently, cash awards are restricted to students who re ceived awards as graduating seniors. HB 2667 enables the Oregon State Scholarship Commit tee to provide scholarships to needy academic achievers. SB 5509 The approach to this bill is in the appropriation of $277 million from the General Fund to the Dept, of Higher Education for the desig nated biennial expenses pertaining to instructional related activities. The O.S.L. (Oregon Student Lobby) amendments increase the General Fund appropriations to $281.9 million. This bill also limits expenditures from fees (tuition) to $83 million. Again, the O.S.L. is proposing amendments to de crease the expenditure limitation on tuition to $78.7 million. Specifi cally, the O.S.L amendments pro vide a 6% decrease for resident un dergraduates, and 0% increase for resident graduates and non resident undergraduates. NAME_ LOCAL ADDRESS__ LOCAL TELEPHONE_ CONTACTS IN THE LEGISLATURE OR STATE AGENCIES PERMANENT HOME ADDRESS_ LEGISLATION OF INTEREST(CHECK): □ SB 363, Tax Savings □ SB 638 Student Information Bill □ SB 697 Non-Discrimination in Employment and Housing □ SB 5509 OSBHE Budget (Tuition) □ SB 5512 OSSC Budget ' □ SB 5557 Supplemental Financial Aid Need Grants □ HB 2429 Tuition Tax Credits □ HB 2459 Child Care □ HB 2667 Supplemental Financial Aid Scholarships □ HB 2702 Discloses Student Evaluations of Instruction Please return this form to ASUO State Affairs, Suite 4, EMU.
