Oklahoma Policy Institute / Articles by: Kate Richey

Archive for 2013

In The Know: Supreme Court sides with Oklahoma in Red River water dispute

by Kate Richey | June 14th, 2013 | Posted in Blog, In The Know | Comments (0)

In The Know is a daily synopsis of Oklahoma policy-related news and blogs. Inclusion of a story does not necessarily mean endorsement by the Oklahoma Policy Institute. You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.

Today you should know that the U.S. Supreme Court blocked a Texas agency’s attempt to tap into Oklahoma’s water supply. An explosion at a chemical plant operated by Tulsa-based Williams Company killed one and injured dozens in Louisiana.

Arizona lawmakers voted to accept federal funds to expand Medicaid and extend health care to 300,000 low-income residents. The state medical examiner has added an unidentified little girl to the list of Moore tornado victims. U.S. wholesale grocers filed a lawsuit against potato growers in 15 states, including Oklahoma, accusing them of running a price-fixing cartel.

A Federal Grand Jury indicted a mentally ill Oklahoma man, recently arrested at a propane company in Talequah, for possession of explosive devices and an unregistered firearm. The OK Policy Blog posted a video explaining why high quality early childhood education raises incomes.

The Number of the Day is the percentage increase in the price of groceries, compared to the percentage increase in price inflation overall, since 2005. In today’s Policy Note, the Census Bureau released analysis of an increasingly diverse electorate; there is no statistically significant difference in voter turnout in Oklahoma between Whites and African-Americans, but large gaps in turnout between Hispanic/Latino and non-Hispanic/Latino residents.

In The News

Top Court Blocks Texas Agency From Taking Oklahoma Water

A unanimous court held that the Red River Compact does not allow Texas to trump Oklahoma’s sovereign right to control its own water supplies. It concluded that Texas has rights to water under the compact, but is not entitled to draw it from Oklahoma. Legal experts said the ruling could have implications for the many compacts that govern the flow of river water between states.

Read more from Tulsa World

Arizona Gov. Brewer secures Medicaid expansion

Ending a six-month legislative session, Arizona lawmakers endorsed a key element of President Barack Obama’s health care law in a huge political victory for Republican Gov. Jan Brewer, after a lengthy fight over Medicaid expansion that divided the state’s Republican leadership. The expansion that will extend health care to 300,000 more low-income Arizonans came after months of stalled negotiations, tense debates and political maneuvering as Brewer pushed the Medicaid proposal through a hostile Legislature.

Read more from KJRH

Grocers allege potato group pumped up spud prices

A U.S. wholesale grocer says America’s potato farmers have run an illegal price-fixing cartel for a decade, driving up spud prices while spying on farmers with satellites and aircraft fly-overs to enforce strict limits on how many tubers they can grow. Kansas-based Associated Wholesale Grocers’ lawsuit against United Potato Growers of America and two dozen other defendants was shifted this week to U.S. District Court in Idaho, America’s top potato-producing state at 30 percent of the nation’s supply.

Read more from KJRH

Watch This: The economic case for preschool

In this TED Talk, economic development expert Tim Bartik talks about why high quality early childhood education raises incomes, even for those who didn’t attend preschool.

Watch This at OKPolicy Blog

Quote of the Day

“The day has been a red-letter day for the people of Arizona. It was a win, win, win all the way around.”

Governor Jan Brewer, on Arizona approving Medicaid expansion after a lengthy legislative fight

Number of the Day

29 percent

Percentage increase in the price of groceries (or ‘food at home’) since 2005, compared to just 19 percent inflation overall

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics via economagic.com

See previous Numbers of the Day here.

Policy Note

The Diversifying Electorate: Voting Rates by Race and Hispanic Origin in 2012

This report provides analysis of the increasingly diverse American electorate, specifically for presidential elections since 1996, with particular focus given to the patterns of voter turnout by race and Hispanic origin. Overall voting rates have fluctuated in recent presidential races, from a low of 58.4 percent of the citizen population in 1996 to a high of about 64.0 percent in both 2004 and 2008. In 2012, the overall voting rate was 61.8 percent. By examining these overall changes by race and Hispanic origin, this report provides a better understanding of the social and demographic factors that have influenced recent American elections.

[Equity 3] How the employment gap drives the wealth gap

by Kate Richey | June 11th, 2013 | Posted in Assets & Opportunity, Blog | Comments (0)

Disparities between white and non-white Oklahomans’ access to generative assets, which refer to income a person earns through paid employment, are wide and stubbornly persistent. Previous posts in this running series, Closing the Opportunity Gap: Building Equity in Oklahoma, explored historical roots of the gap and detailed disparities in foundational assets, e.g. health. This post turns to a second core area, generative assets, which measure access to opportunities to maintain stable employment and earn income.

Oklahoma is frequently hailed as a haven of low unemployment and widely available economic opportunity. This is far less true for people of color and residents of rural counties who have long faced significant barriers to employment. The employment situation for Native Americans and African Americans in Oklahoma is particularly bleak. Between 2007 and 2010, the national Native unemployment rate rose 7.7 percentage points, nearly double the increase in White unemployment during that same period. African-American workers in Oklahoma were unemployed at more than twice the rate (11.8 percent) of white workers (5.0 percent) in 2011.

continue reading [Equity 3] How the employment gap drives the wealth gap

In The Know: Suit filed against state income tax-cut

by Kate Richey | June 7th, 2013 | Posted in Blog, In The Know | Comments (0)

Today you should know that a suit filed with the Oklahoma Supreme Court challenged an income tax-cut bill signed by the Governor this session; the suit argues that the bill violated the state’s single-subject rule and failed to secure the three-fourths support required of revenue bills. More than 7,000 people have registered with FEMA for disaster relief across Cleveland, Oklahoma, Lincoln, Pottawatomie and McClain counties.

Oklahoma farmers got a boost from recent rains, but are wary about the longer-term drought cycle. Two shuttered north Tulsa recreation centers, B.C. Franklin and Springdale park, would be guaranteed additional funding under a proposed budget amendment, but city officials say the money would fall short of funding the repairs needed to reopen them.

Even if the state managed to accept federal funds to expand Medicaid for low-income Oklahomans, some 330,000 would remain uninsured after the new health law goes into full effect. Gov. Mary Fallin acted on the last pending bill sent to her during the legislative session, vetoing a measure that dealt with county assessors’ training. The OK Policy Blog provided an end-of-session summary of what happened to legislation that we covered during the year.

A bill to change the way the government regulates ash from coal-fired power plants - which contains arsenic, selenium, lead, cadmium, and mercury – is making its way through Congress. Sen. Tom Coburn introduced legislation promoting the replacement of $1 bills with $1 coins.

The Number of the Day is the amount the state currently pays in tax subsidies each year to oil & gas companies for drilling horizontal wells in Oklahoma. In today’s Policy Note, the American Immigration Council reports on expert consensus across the political spectrum about the enormous economic potential of broad-based immigration reform.

In The News

OKC attorney challenges tax-cut bill
Fent filed suit with the Oklahoma Supreme Court alleging that House Bill 2032 violates the state Constitution because it contains more than one subject. HB 2032, which Gov. Mary Fallin signed into law, reduces the state’s top tax rate a quarter of a percentage point to 5 percent in 2015 with prospects for an additional cut to 4.85 percent in 2016 if there is sufficient growth revenue to pay for it. Fent said the bill also failed to secure the three-fourths support in both legislative chambers that is required of revenue bills.

Read more from Tulsa World

More than 7,000 sign up for FEMA disaster assistance
The American Red Cross, Salvation Army and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have updated figures reflecting the organizations’ response to the recent tornadoes in central Oklahoma. FEMA has approved more than $5 million in disaster relief assistance to individuals in central Oklahoma. More than 7,000 people have registered with FEMA for disaster relief across Cleveland, Oklahoma, Lincoln, Pottawatomie and McClain counties.

Read more from KJRH

Budget amendment on two closed north Tulsa rec centers heard at Council meeting
Two shuttered north Tulsa recreation centers would be guaranteed additional funding under a budget amendment proposed Thursday, but city officials say the money would come far short of funding the repairs needed to reopen them. City Councilor Jack Henderson said he wants to earmark $248,000 from a city economic development account for future repairs to the B.C. Franklin and Springdale park recreation centers, adding $124,000 to the existing funds for each center. City officials say they already have $800,000 and $711,847 to spend on the parks, respectively, but that another $900,000 and $1.4 million respectively would be needed to make the recreation centers usable.

Read more from Tulsa World

Study says Affordable Care Act will leave many uninsured
Some 330,000 Oklahomans will be left without insurance after “Obamacare” takes full effect next year, even if the state accepts a controversial expansion of its Medicaid program, researchers from Harvard University and the City University of New York reported Thursday. Nationally, most of the people left without coverage will be working people and U.S. citizens, the report shows. “The (Affordable Care Act), whatever its merits, will fall well short of its stated goal of providing affordable care for all Americans,” the report – released on the Health Affairs blog – concludes.

Read more from Tulsa World

Oklahoma governor acts on last bill of session
Gov. Mary Fallin acted Thursday on the last remaining bill sent to her during the legislative session that ended two weeks ago. Fallin vetoed Senate Bill 954, which dealt with the training that county assessors receive. Fallin, a Republican, this year signed 432 bills into law and vetoed 17 of the measures sent to her by the GOP-controlled Legislature. Last year, she signed into law 396 bills and vetoed 11.

Read more from KJRH

Quote of the Day

“If we don’t do something, it’s business as usual, right back to the way it was. You’re not going to do nothing but talk.”

Tulsa City Councilor Jack Henderson, on his plan to reallocate budgeted funds to put some money aside for two shuttered north Tulsa recreation centers

Number of the Day

$100 million

Amount the state currently pays in tax subsidies each year to oil & gas companies for drilling horizontal wells in Oklahoma

Source: Oklahoma Policy Institute

See previous Numbers of the Day here.

Policy Note

Experts from Left and Right Agree on Economic Power of Immigration Reform

In recent years, study after study has demonstrated a simple yet economically powerful truth about broad-based immigration reform: workers with legal status earn more than workers who are unauthorized—and these extra earnings generate more tax revenue, as well as more consumer spending, which creates more jobs. As a new report from the Center for American Progress (CAP) points out, this fact implies that states with appreciable unauthorized populations stand to gain economically from immigration reform that includes a legalization program for the unauthorized. Moreover, a new open letter to Congressional leaders released by the conservative American Action Forum illustrates that it is not only liberal advocacy groups like CAP which recognize the economic potential of immigration reform.

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In The Know: Late-night snag in House could delay early adjournment

by Kate Richey | May 24th, 2013 | Posted in Blog, In The Know | Comments (0)

Today you should know that a late-night vote in the Oklahoma House left in doubt the state’s common education budget and Friday’s expected early adjournment. Hobby Lobby argued before a panel of eight judges at the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals that for-profit corporations have constitutionally protected religious freedoms.

House Speaker Shannon’s attempt to repeal Common Core wastes millions of dollars already spent and throws out years of hard work by Oklahoma teachers and students. A letter to the editors of the Oklahoman urged funding for schools to have secure shelters to protect the lives of its students.

The U.S. Senate voted to lower government payments to farmers making more than $750,000. The Number of the Day is the number of children in Oklahoma living in extreme poverty. In today’s Policy Note, ProPublica investigates predatory lenders circumventing the Military Lending Act.

continue reading In The Know: Late-night snag in House could delay early adjournment

Watch This: The Racial Wealth Gap in America

by Kate Richey | May 16th, 2013 | Posted in Assets & Opportunity, Blog, Watch This | Comments (0)

The racial wealth gap has been a hot topic lately on our blog. The United States remains one of the wealthiest countries in the world, yet escaping poverty and achieving prosperity remains out of reach for millions of Americans. Too many people of color, striving to make a better life for themselves and their families, face significant barriers to building wealth and less access to opportunities that are widely available for Whites.

This 3-minute video from the Urban Institute sheds more light on the issue with a simple, compelling illustration. This animation is based on research by Eugene Steuerle, Signe-Mary McKernan, Caroline Ratcliffe, and Sisi Zhang of the Urban Institute.

Click here to read OK Policy’s paper, ‘Closing the Opportunity Gap: Building Equity in Oklahoma.‘

Watch This Too:

In The Know: Oklahoma House approves state budget plan

by Kate Richey | May 10th, 2013 | Posted in In The Know | Comments (0)

Today you should know that the state House passed and sent to the Senate a $7.1 billion general appropriations bill for FY 2014. A bill that sought to use federal Medicaid money in Oklahoma while skirting some federal rules will not be considered by the legislature. Meanwhile, a consultant hired by the state says that his firm’s ”Oklahoma Plan” alternative to Medicaid expansion won’t be ready until 2015.

The OK Policy Blog shows why the new budget plan continues the trend of underfunding education in Oklahoma; the state aid funding formula has not kept up with inflation or rising enrollment for half a decade. Legislators in the House scrambled to craft and pass a plan to raise state troopers’ pay, although it’s not immediately clear how the raise would be paid for.

The Pew Research Center reports on the record share of Hispanic high school graduates enrolling in college in 2012. The Number of the Day is the amount below five years ago going into Oklahoma’s state aid school funding formula.

continue reading In The Know: Oklahoma House approves state budget plan

In The Know: Governor, GOP leadership reach budget deal

by Kate Richey | May 3rd, 2013 | Posted in Blog, In The Know | Comments (0)

Today you should know that lawmakers reached a deal on the state budget, which includes an increase for education, but not enough of an increase to offset several years of budget cuts and growth in student enrollment. State and school leaders approved of the increase, but reiterated their calls for full funding of common education. OK Policy previously published a fact sheet on critical funding shortfalls, showing Oklahoma with the deepest cuts to funding for local schools of any state in the country over the last five years.

The budget deal does not include a pay raise for state workers, who haven’t seen a wage increase since 2006. The OK Policy Blog responded to legislators‘ criticism of a recent lecture on racial disparities in access to opportunity given by one of our policy analysts. Health officials are warning about the Hantavirus, a rare and deadly virus that has shown up in Oklahoma in recent weeks.

The Number of the Day is the number of Oklahomans who walk or use public transit to get to work. In today’s Policy Note, Pew Charitable Trusts reports on how the mortgage interest deduction, widely viewed as a broad tax benefit for the middle-class, benefits the residents of some states far more than others.

continue reading In The Know: Governor, GOP leadership reach budget deal

Poor judgement: Bills aimed at low-income Oklahomans move through state legislature

by Kate Richey | April 17th, 2013 | Posted in Blog, Poverty | Comments (0)

A little over a month ago we alerted readers to a slew of bills targeting safety net assistance programs for the state’s poorest families and most vulnerable residents. Some of those bills have been amended to be less draconian, some are now dormant for the session, and many are further on their way to becoming law. At this point the bills we’ve been tracking aimed at low income Oklahomans can be divided into three categories: bills that enact ‘ornamental’ but not real changes, bills that enact real changes but not exactly as advertised by proponents, and bills that are now dormant and off our radar.

‘Ornamental’ bills

While the authors and proponents of these bills tout them as bold measures to cut off undeserving recipients of public benefits or combat waste and abuse, the reality is these bills don’t enact major changes.

HB 1909 forgoes a temporary federal waiver, enacted during the recent recession, to extend food stamp benefits to able bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) in counties with very high unemployment. In reality, HB 1909 likely won’t change the state’s food stamp program at all. It won’t take effect until October and Oklahoma almost certainly won’t be eligible to apply for the federal waiver by then because unemployment has already dipped below double digits in every county.

HB 1909 does make it appear as if the state is no longer offering food stamps to ABAWDs, but that just isn’t the case. HB 1909 stipulates that it applies ‘except as otherwise provided by law’ and federal law does require the states to provide minimal benefits to some childless adults working at least 20 hours a week. The author, House Speaker TW Shannon, hailed the bill in a press release as a ‘welfare reform’ that encourages responsibility and discourages dependency, but that’s more hyperbole than fact.

Similarly, SB 887 inserts redundant new language into existing state statute that already bars food stamp recipients from ‘transferring‘ or otherwise fraudulently using their benefit. Also not new is language in the bill directing district attorneys to have defendants facing fraud charges sign ‘disqualification consent agreement’ (DCA) that block them from future access to the food stamp program. DCAs are already used routinely by the state in food stamp fraud cases. The bill does nothing new to reduce fraud or save taxpayers’ money.

SB 667 mirrors a recently enacted federal law which restricts the electronic distribution of public benefits through EBT cards at certain establishments (liquor stores, casinos). The federal law does not require enacting legislation at the state level. OKDHS is obligated to enforce the new federal law as enacted and their administration of EBT cards won’t be affected by SB 667 at all.

Last but not least, a bill that has already passed the Senate and the House, SB 456, requires county DHS offices to post signs in their waiting rooms encouraging people to report the ‘fraudulent acquisition and use of public assistance.’ States already spend more investigating reports of benefit fraud than what they recoup from valid reports of recipient fraud. If these signs result in an increase in fraud reporting, there’s no evidence it will save the state money and anecdotal evidence it might cost us more.

‘Red herring’ bills

These bills would enact substantive changes, but have implications beyond those outlined by proponents.

HB 1908 diverts ‘Temporary Assistance for Needy Families’ (TANF) funds to produce public service announcements promoting marriage among the general public. TANF or ‘welfare’ is designed to support vulnerable and very low-income single parents and their children. No estimate has been provided of how much these ad spots promoting marriage will cost or whether they work.

Evidence about the efficacy of ‘marriage promotion’ as a way to reduce poverty is mixed. Evidence about the efficacy of PSAs is nonexistent. Why would lawmakers take money from the state’s existing marriage counseling initiatives, which the state already funds to the tune of $2M in TANF dollars? These services have already proven that they work to enhance relationships, improve parenting, and strengthen couples (yet do not improve families’ financial situations, which is worth noting).

SB 959 attempts to dragoon law enforcement officers into human services record-keeping:

Upon the arrest of any person for a drug-related offense, the arresting peace officer shall ask the arrested person the following question: “Are you currently receiving public assistance, including, but not limited to, food stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF-formerly known as welfare), housing assistance or Medicaid?”. Responses to such questions shall be collected by the law enforcement agency and shall be made readily available to the Legislature upon request.

This bill imposes new rules around the questioning of suspects under arrest that are immaterial to the criminal investigation at hand. It requires that law enforcement create a new data-gathering regime, capable of collecting, storing, and reporting information back to the legislature. Yet it doesn’t provide any new funding or even basic guidelines for how this might be accomplished.

Inactive bills

Finally, the bills listed below are now dormant pursuant to legislative rules and will not become law this session; click here for our previous post detailing these problematic proposals.

HB 2014: Exclude persons with a drug related felony from receiving SNAP or ‘food stamp’ benefits
HB 2017: Exclude low-income households who save up to $5,000 from food stamp eligibility

In The Know: Gov. and Speaker now open to delaying tax cut

by Kate Richey | April 12th, 2013 | Posted in Blog, In The Know | Comments (0)

Today you should know that Gov. Fallin and Speaker Shannon have backed off from insisting that cuts to the state’s income tax must take place immediately. GOP lawmakers are pushing for several new tax breaks, including exemptions for helicopter purchases and sporting events.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations in Oklahoma urged the governor to veto HB 1060, a bill they say disrespects the American ideal of religious pluralism. The Senate’s budget chair says money will likely be available to pay for state teacher benefits this year.

continue reading In The Know: Gov. and Speaker now open to delaying tax cut

In The Know: Senate considers changing criminal justice reform panel

by Kate Richey | April 4th, 2013 | Posted in Blog, In The Know | Comments (0)

Today you should know that a state Senate committee considered changing a rule that requires three members of a corrections reform panel to have a ‘diverse criminal justice background’, to a rule that lets the governor and legislative leadership pick whomever they want. Some lawmakers are urging the state to develop procedures for post-conviction DNA testing requests, currently provided for in every state except Oklahoma.

David Blatt’s Journal Record column reviewed how decades of new education standards and mandates pile on top of each other with each shift in the political winds, often without follow-through to fully fund them. An important new report by the Oklahoma Technical Assistance Center for Oklahoma Policy Institute catalogued the cumulative effect of these reforms.

continue reading In The Know: Senate considers changing criminal justice reform panel

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Archive for 2013

In The News

Quote of the Day

Number of the Day

Policy Note

In The News

Quote of the Day

Number of the Day

Policy Note

‘Ornamental’ bills

While the authors and proponents of these bills tout them as bold measures to cut off undeserving recipients of public benefits or combat waste and abuse, the reality is these bills don’t enact major changes.

‘Red herring’ bills

These bills would enact substantive changes, but have implications beyond those outlined by proponents.

Inactive bills

Finally, the bills listed below are now dormant pursuant to legislative rules and will not become law this session; click here for our previous post detailing these problematic proposals.

Connect with OK Policy

Guest Bloggers

Blog Archives