House Bill 4326 by Rep. Anthony Moore, R-Clinton, and Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, would have added on to last year’s expansion of Oklahoma’s Promise, also known as OHLAP. Last session, the legislature passed a measure to broaden access to the program for children of certified teachers who have taught for at least 10 years in Oklahoma.
Before last year’s bill, OHLAP eligibility ranged from $60,000-$80,000 in annual income. House Bill 1727 opened eligibility to teachers’ families earning up to 700% of the federal poverty level. For a family of three in 2026, that would be $191,240.
The measure was intended to address Oklahoma’s teacher shortage crisis by enticing veteran teachers to remain in Oklahoma classrooms.
This year’s bill would make several clarifications, including defining certified teachers to include public school or Career Tech counselors, librarians, nurses and athletic trainers. It would also clarify that eligibility includes children of alternatively certified teachers, but not emergency certified teachers. It includes language clarifying eligibility for adopted children and children under the legal care of a teacher.
It would also allow the scholarship to be used for Career Tech and remove the income cap for students placed in DHS custody.
Lastly, it would remove the requirement that educators teach for 10 consecutive years. Instead, the 10 required years would have to have occurred in the last 20 years.
As of publication, the bill is still alive and available for a veto override. However, because the Oklahoma Senate has saved all of its final work for the last day of session, it appears unlikely the upper chamber will vote on an override.
On Stitt’s veto explanation website, he wrote the program has been expanded beyond who it was intended to include — children from low-income families.
“If every profession with an important public service role receives its own carveout, the next requests will understandably come from countless others who also sacrifice for our state,” Stitt said. “Oklahoma taxpayers deserve a program with one clear and consistent income-based standard — not a growing checkered-board statute where eligibility depends on which group secured a special exception at the Capitol.”
Notably, Stitt signed last year’s bill.
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