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- Lawmakers should discuss revising scholarship plan
A few years ago, lawmakers started kicking around the idea of expanding the state’s premier college scholarship program so more students could qualify. Problem was, the steadily growing program now known as Oklahoma’s Promise was funded on a beg-and-cross-your-fingers basis. The situation is different now. Scholarships are funded first from the state budget, and we’re eager to see how legislators react to a new recommendation to make the state-funded scholarships available to more students from middle-income families.The program has a $50,000 income cap. A task force is recommending basing eligibility on a different calculation and taking into account family size so larger families could make more money and stillsee more on NewsOK.com - Spending blitz: Plan not likely to spur growth
President-elect Barack Obama says he’s planning the largest public works program since the interstate highway system was built in the late 1950s — a stimulus package pulling infrastructure, education, energy and health care into efforts to revive the economy.Sounds colossal — and colossally expensive. While Obama hasn’t said, others figure it will cost $500 billion or more.Unfortunately for taxpayers, the poor economy and Democratic gains in November are building a perfect spending storm. "We’ve got to provide a blood transfusion to the patient right now to make sure the patient is stabilized,” Obama said Sunday on NBC’s "Meet the Press.” "And that means we can’tsee more on NewsOK.com - Tuning in: TV behind bars not a bad idea
So, the cable TV bill for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections is $280,000 per year? We call that money well spent, for a couple of reasons.One is that the money to pay for cable comes not from taxpayers, but from the inmates themselves, through profits from the sale of items from the prison canteens. The money generated by those canteens more than offsets the annual bill for cable, which is piped into the common areas (and some individual cells) at 17 prisons and five community corrections centers.This access to basic cable — no HBO, Showtime or other premium channels are allowed — provides inmates with something else to do with their time, which is the second reason this is a good idea.see more on NewsOK.com - MAPS for Kids: A question as tax expires
At the end of this month, the penny sales tax that generated hundreds of millions of dollars for Oklahoma City public schools will expire. And so the question is worth asking: What did taxpayers get for MAPS for Kids?About 75 school construction projects will have been tackled by the time all the building and rebuilding is completed four years from now. Fortunately, it was decided long ago to put MAPS for Kids into the hands of city government rather than the sometimes dysfunctional school district, and City Manager Jim Couch’s staff has been an outstanding steward of the tax revenue. Despite many changes in plans and increases in construction costs, the city should have enough money to finish the projects.see more on NewsOK.com - $34 billion question: Aid must have strings attached
DETROIT’S Big Three returned to Washington last week chastened and a little wiser after laying an egg last month in their first bid to get rescue funds from the government.Their message, though, was the same: Give us big money — $34 billion — or doom companies that have been pillars in the U.S. economy for decades. We’ll see whether the plea has any better traction the second time around.Lawmakers are skeptical, as they should be. Not that they’ve got qualms about using public funds to bail out private companies. That philosophical marker is miles back in Washington’s rearview mirror now.The problem is a reluctance to double down on a losing bet.see more on NewsOK.com - Tapped out: Prohibition repeal marks a milestone
With no help from Oklahoma, Prohibition was spiked 75 years ago last week. The 21st Amendment to the Constitution repealed the 18th Amendment, which had outlawed the sale and consumption of alcohol nationwide.Oklahoma wasn’t among the states that ratified the 21st Amendment, but enough states did so to put ratification over the top in 1933. The state was ahead of the nation in banning alcohol and behind in repealing the ban.Partial prohibition continues in America, with alcohol sales banned in many counties (none here) and bans on Sunday sales of strong drink. Liquor by the drink is available by county option in Oklahoma, a state that remained totally "dry” until 1959.see more on NewsOK.com - Snap decision: People should be at center on tax hikes
Opponents of Oklahoma’s tax increase limitation law often claim the law makes it nearly impossible to raise taxes at any time, for any reason. Yet Oklahomans have raised taxes on themselves many times at the local level.It’s by no means certain that any tax increase submitted statewide would fail — although a proposal to hike fuel taxes to pay for road and bridge reconstruction failed badly in 2005. One problem with that proposal is that it had no time limit. And the people perceived that existing fuel taxes were being diverted from highway infrastructure.Will Oklahomans ever agree to raise taxes? Perhaps a look of other states would be instructive.According to State Legislatures magazine, voters this yearsee more on NewsOK.com - Going global: Research investment money well spent
Oklahoma’s investments in research and technology over the last several years will serve us well into the future as commercialization of discoveries creates jobs and boost the state’s economy. We’d do well to remember, though, that the past investment won’t be enough.Last week came the revelation that India will double its government support of science and technology from 1 percent to 2 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. The funding will come via a new agency set up much like America’s prestigious National Science Foundation.Government officials expressed concern that their country was falling behind China and South Korea in sciencesee more on NewsOK.com - Problem with crowded prisons isn’t going away
IT was about a year ago that Oklahoma’s prison system was in the news because results of an independent audit were being released. The audit by MGT of America said, in essence, that the Department of Corrections does a pretty good job running a system that’s overcrowded and figures to continue that way unless changes are made or space is added.The DOC has implemented the auditors’ recommendations that didn’t require additional money or changes in statute. Lawmakers agreed to pay for studies of the system’s architectural, engineering and information technology needs, and last session they heeded the call to stop funding the agency in a way that makes DOC come back later and ask for supplemental funding.see more on NewsOK.com - It’s been quite a football season
Provided Slingin’ Sam Bradford’s damaged left thumb doesn’t cause him too many problems, the Oklahoma Sooners are expected to win the Big 12 title tonight, which would set them up for a trip to their fourth BCS national championship game under Bob Stoops.Earlier in the day, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane will play host to East Carolina in the Conference USA title game. And in Stillwater, Oklahoma State’s football team will be taking it e