Oklahoma bill to ease college access for justice-involved goes to House floor

Written By: Deon Osborne

(OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.) A bill that would make it easier for people with criminal convictions to attend college has passed a key committee, sending it to the Oklahoma House for a full vote on the floor.

Read this story on The Black Wall Street Times here. 

HB 1980, the Oklahoma Higher Education Fair Admissions Act, would ban colleges and universities from asking applicants about their criminal history as long as the applicant plans to attend virtually and won’t live on campus.

It passed the House Education Oversight Committee in a 7-1 vote on Wednesday.

The bipartisan bill was sponsored by state Rep. Trish Ranson (D-Stillwater) and state Senator Jack Stewart (R-Yukon). It previously received four votes from Republicans and two Democrat votes in the Oklahoma House Postsecondary Education Committee. 

“It’s what we need”: Oklahoma college access bill moves forward

Republican Rep. Max Wolfley (R-Oklahoma City) was the only lawmaker to vote no in both committees. 

“I believe it is what we need, what Oklahoma needs, because it gives people a fair chance to higher education. Higher education creates a pathway to the future,” D’Marria Monday told the Black Wall Street Times last week. Monday, a community advocate, entrepreneur and formerly incarcerated Oklahoman, is urging lawmakers to pass the bill on the House floor.

“It invests in people, and it invests in opportunities. Those barriers to opportunity keeps people stuck in a cycle of poverty. When you’re stuck in a cycle of poverty, you’re more likely to return to survival tactics that landed you in prison in the first place,” Monday said.

Studies from the Vera Institute and Brookings show expanding college access reduces a person’s chance of returning to prison and increases employment in communities. Oklahoma has one of the highest rates of incarceration in the nation and world. 

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