Teacher pay plans begin to emerge
Sen. Ron Sharp was the first state lawmaker to file a teacher pay raise bill ahead of the 2017 legislative session. But his bill to raise the state’s minimum pay scale by $5,000 highlights the challenge the Legislature will face in finalizing a pay raise plan.
“It’s one thing to say teachers should be paid more, which is what my bill does,” said Sharp, R-Shawnee. “But the hard part is coming up with a way to pay for it and that’s what we still need to come up with.”
Following the defeat of a state question that would have increased teacher salaries by $5,000, lawmakers on both side of the aisle have said a pay increase will be a priority when the next legislative session begins in February.
But for another year of budget shortfalls with other state agencies also clamoring for funding, paying for a salary increase could be difficult.
Proposals to raise taxes and fees must begin in the House. Tax increases also require a three-fourths majority in both the House and Senate.
Rep. Jason Dunnington, D-Oklahoma City, is proposing a teacher raise paid for by increasing the income tax rate for high earners.
Sen. David Holt,R-Oklahoma City, believes an expansion of purchases subject to sales tax, along with removal of some tax credits, provides the best path to higher teacher salaries.
“I hope there are 148 different plans offered this year,” said Holt, referring to the number of legislators in the House and Senate, minus himself. “If we have a lot of ideas on the table that would mean we are making progress.”
Sen. Kim David, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said last year’s budget reductions stretched the state to the limit and she doesn’t want teacher pay funded on the backs of other agencies.
“I’m looking forward to sitting down with lawmakers in the coming weeks to hear their ideas,” said David, R-Porter.
David called an income tax increase “dead on arrival” and said she believes cuts in administrative waste are apotential revenue source for teacher salaries.
While a majority of Republicans will be needed to approve any pay raise bill, Democrats will have a part to play as Republicans are one member short of super majority status, assuming the entire caucus were in line on a fee or tax increase.
“It’s hard to see a plan happening without bipartisan support,” Dunnington said.
He said he will propose an income tax increase on those earning over $100,000, that he believes would raise around $200 million in today’s economy.
“People are focusing on how much we are going to give teachers, but we are going to need revenue,” Dunnington said. “If we pass this bill it would go into general revenue and then we could appropriate it for things like teacher pay raises.”
Dunnington acknowledged an income tax increase effort would face major hurdles in a Republican Legislature, but he said the current state of the economy and teacher pay required progressive thinking.
“Everyone has to have an open mind,” Dunnington said. “I don’t know that it’s about being progressive or conservative; it’s about our state being broke right now and we’ve done that to ourselves.”
An increase in sales or income tax rates would require a lofty threefourths vote. Increasing the motor fuel tax also has been floated by some lawmakers, especially since Oklahoma has the third lowest rate in the nation.
Holt, who is advocating for a phased-in $10,000 raise, said tax increases would be a tough sell in the Legislature.
“Beyond an increase on the cigarette tax, I’m not sure you can get a three-fourths majority on anything,” Holt said. “But I think you can still raise the necessary funds through ways that do not require that three quarters vote.”
Holt’s plan includes promising any increases in revenue as the economy rebounds in future years toward teacher pay.
Those who advocated for State Question 779 have turned their attention to the upcoming legislative session and believe Oklahomans are counting on some sort of plan being approved.
“We want to see the governor put a $5,000 teacher pay raise plan with the revenue to do it in her executive budget and in the State of the State address,” said Amber England, a spokesperson for Pass a Plan, a continuation of a pro-SQ 779 group.
England said she has heard lots of support for a teacher pay raise, but not as many details about how to do it.
“It would take about $300 million to fund a $5,000 raise and that’s going to take some form of new revenue,” England said. “A plan is just rhetoric until it includes an actual way to fund it.”
“I’m looking forward to sitting down with lawmakers in the coming weeks to hear their ideas.”
Sen. Kim David