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Committee advances bill to create statewide longitudinal data system for education and workforce
Summary
Lawmakers passed a bill creating a Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) to aggregate existing education and workforce data for trend analysis; supporters said data will be de‑identified and used to guide policy decisions, while members asked about privacy, fiscal impact, and public access.
The committee voted to advance legislation to create a statewide longitudinal data system (SLDS) intended to link existing education and workforce records so policymakers can analyze long‑term trends.
Senator Seifried introduced Senate Bill 224 and said, "We are 1 of only 3 states in the nation that does not have a statewide longitudinal data system." Seifried told the committee the bill would not collect new data but would aggregate existing records across agencies to answer policy questions about student retention, program outcomes and workforce alignment.
Senators raised questions about privacy, fiscal cost, and public access. Senator Goodwin asked how the system would avoid steering students into particular industries; Seifried replied, "It's really just to inform us as policymakers... This is data that already exists. We're just looking at aggregating it and looking at trends." On privacy, Seifried and OEQA Director Aftedal said the system would share only de‑identified data and that the council created in the bill would approve specific data‑sharing agreements and use cases.
Senator Seifried and Director Aftedal outlined initial fiscal estimates: approximately $85,000 the first year to stand up procurement and legal support, about $350,000 for OEQA operations in a subsequent year (including a program manager and legal costs), an estimated one‑time vendor setup cost that had been discussed as roughly $2–3 million (later described as lowered in negotiations), and an ongoing annual vendor cost in the range of $500,000. Director Aftedal said OEQA currently has a vacancy that could reduce net fiscal impact if filled for this role.
Kyla Galliette, CEO of the Oklahoma Workforce Commission, told the committee the workforce dashboard that will use SLDS data "is actually going to be open to the public," adding the public portions will give "constant report cards on how we're doing." Dr. Aftedal and agency directors said access to detailed uses would be reviewed and approved by the council and that researchers may be granted de‑identified datasets under approved use agreements.
After extended discussion on privacy safeguards and public reporting, the committee recorded 8 ayes and 1 nay and declared the bill passed out of committee.
