OK Policy Blog

Bills, Bills, Bills: The weird, delightful, and truly strange

Kate — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:27:59 +0000

The state legislature is back in session with a slate of serious (we would argue dire) propositions. In search of comic relief, we’ve decided once again to highlight the bills filed this session that deserve a spot on the blooper reel. Many of these bills tickled our funny bone, but most of them had us doing a double take – say what now? If you have any insight, please enlighten us in the comment section below.

Sen. Shortey tops the list with SB 1418, a fundamentally strange bill to ban “food and goods” which contain aborted human fetuses. Umm, okay. Rather than pile-on the national ridicule, we’d like to call your attention to a lesser-known Shortey bill. SB 1749 would limit the state highway system’s use of chemical fertilizers and weed killers to protect honey bees. Every third mouthful of food we eat we owe to honey bee pollination – worth billions of dollars a year to American agriculture. Honey bees across the country have been succumbing to a mysterious ailment known as colony collapse disorder, caused in part by the very chemicals SB 1749 proposes limiting. Bravo.

Sen. Bass thinks teenagers should be required to take a safety course before driving a golf cart on a street or roadway. Reaching top speeds of 15 mph, with the turning radius of an electric Barbie Jeep, we question the wisdom of allowing golf carts on streets and roadways at all. But if we must, we suppose there is nothing wrong with keeping the kiddies safe. Although shouldn’t SB 1356 mandate safety training for all ages to capture those tipsy post-happy hour golfers and anyone with bogey-rage?

Attention sports fans, HB 3078 proposes that persons licensed to practice medicine in another state traveling with a sports team do not satisfy the definition of “practice of medicine” in Oklahoma. Is Rep. Dorman trying to secure the mother of all competitive advantages? Imagine how much easier it will be to win once other teams have to check their trainers at the state line. We’re gonna need him to Thunder Down.

In an apparent sequel to a bill filed last session, we are dubbing SB 1270 the ‘Who Let the Dogs Out Act: Part II.’ If your hunting dogs run off, Rep. Wyrick wants you to be able to retrieve them from private property without being charged with illegal trespass or a hunting violation. Proceed with caution, however. If the lawful owner expressly forbids you – orally or in writing – from entering, you had better stay put and try and lure your canines back without trespassing. We suggest bacon, anything smelling of bacon, or squirrels.

Rep. Rousselot endeavors to create the “Animal Massage and Acupressure Therapy Act.” HB 2400 would define animal massage and acupressure, set up a training program, and outline certification and record-keeping requirements. Basically, a new bureaucracy especially for animal massage. Your guess is as good as ours.

Last but not least, Rep. Williams hopes to legally codify the definition of a ‘canoe’ with HB 3093. Drum roll please….

“Canoe” means a light narrow boat with both ends sharp and which is propelled by paddling and includes similar craft such as kayaks.

Stay tuned for what is sure to be a weird, delightful, and truly strange legislative session.

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In The Know: Law enforcement says budget cuts are putting everyone at risk

Kate — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:05:55 +0000

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. E-mail your suggestions for In The Know items to gperry@okpolicy.org. You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.

Today you should know that Oklahoma’s public safety officials told lawmakers that budget cuts have left them dangerously understaffed with antiquated facilities and equipment. Foster care abuse in Oklahoma has taken an enormous toll on affected children and cost the state several million dollars in damages. The state’s chief medical examiner told a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that reaccreditation of his agency was impossible with its current “decrepit” facility.

The OK Policy Blog pointed out that Gov. Fallin’s state of the state address acknowledged our urgent unmet needs but was ambivalent about how to pay for them. StateImpact Oklahoma used a word cloud visualization to compare Gov. Fallin’s state of the state speeches. The Tulsa World reported that the state’s current system taxes rich and poor alike at a similar rate. The Children’s Defense Fund ranked Oklahoma near the bottom in child welfare, measuring poverty, health, hunger, early childhood development, education and youth at risk.

Oklahoma doctors expressed grave concern over proposed ‘personhood’ legislation, including its effect on routine in vitro fertilization treatments. Today’s Number of the Day is the number of Oklahomans killed to date by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In today’s Policy Note, PolicyLink looks at the disproportionate impact of foreclosures on low-income people and communities of color and lifts up innovative local approaches to assist homeowners.

In The News

Oklahoma public safety officials seek more funding

Following three years of budget cuts, Oklahoma’s public safety officials told lawmakers Tuesday their budgets need a boost to restore workforce levels and replace antiquated facilities and equipment. The heads of Oklahoma’s public safety agencies told members of a House budget subcommittee that deep budget cuts during the national economic downturn that trimmed millions of dollars from their budgets had affected their ability to do their jobs. “We’re literally just putting these guys at risk,” Thompson said. “We need the manpower. We’re approaching the point now that we’re really irrelevant.”

The High Cost of Foster Care Abuse

More than 500,000 children in the U.S. reside in some form of foster care. Within one year of their initial placement, at least 15 percent of them will experience neglect, abuse, or other harmful conditions. Since 2005, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) has paid out more than $3.4 million in civil lawsuit settlements. In a recently settled class action lawsuit involving foster care abuse, Oklahoma DHS spent $7 million in outside attorney fees in defense of the lawsuit, with $2 million more set aside for future costs.

Read more from EIN News at http://uspolitics.einnews.com/247pr/261786

Plan to fund new Oklahoma ME’s Office through Master Lease Program raises concerns

Some lawmakers expressed concern Wednesday about a proposal to pay for a new state Medical Examiner’s Office. “What is plan B?” McIntyre asked Dr. Eric Pfeifer, the chief medical examiner. The office would abandon hopes of becoming reaccredited, Pfeifer said, adding that he was told that reaccreditation of his agency could not be accomplished with its current “decrepit” facility. The office lost its accreditation with the National Association of Medical Examiners in 2009 after 18 consecutive years of accreditation.

State of the State Analysis: Gov. Fallin is playing catch-up

In her State of the State address, Governor Fallin laid out numerous areas where Oklahoma needs to invest to fix serious problems. She mentioned the shortage of troopers on the highways, the millions still owed to local governments to reimburse emergency expenses, the dilapidated state capitol and medical examiner’s office, crumbling bridges, high infant mortality, a beleaguered foster care system, and unfunded teacher health benefits.

Rich or poor, both pay similar tax rate in Oklahoma

In 1988, the Legislature cut the tax rate, but it did so by eliminating the top eight brackets. That meant the new top tax rate – 10 percent – started at a net income of $23,000 a year. Since then, the Legislature has cut taxes the same way several times, by eliminating the top bracket, but lawmakers never indexed the remaining tax brackets to inflation, so the top tax bracket has gotten progressively lower as inflation has driven relative earnings higher. And so, in Oklahoma, a poor man can feel like a millionaire because they’re paying taxes at the same rate.

In Oklahoma, support for children lacking; study says state ranks 49th

Oklahoma ranks poorly in the three key statistics in a recent national study that looks at poverty, health, hunger, child welfare, early childhood development, education and youth at risk in each state. According to the Children’s Defense Funds’ annual Children in the States Fact Sheets, Oklahoma ranks 49th in per-pupil expenditures, 34th in infant mortality rate and 29th in the percentage of babies born at a low birth weight.

Anti-abortion Oklahoma lawmakers continue push

But Crain’s bill, which was approved earlier this week in a Senate committee, already is prompting some doctors to express grave concerns about the chilling effect it could have on reproductive medical services. “These are bills that have very vast and a plethora of unintended consequences,” said Dr. Eli Reshef, a reproductive endocrinologist and the medical director of the Bennett Fertility Institute at Integris Baptist Hospital in Oklahoma City. “In vitro fertilization is the process where we take the sperm and the egg, put them together in a laboratory. All of a sudden in the lab now we’re stewards of persons?” Reshef accused Crain and other Oklahoma lawmakers of “pandering to the extreme right” and said these types of bills contradict another goal of Republicans, which is fostering a pro-business environment in the state.

Quote of the Day

If we fund things to help break the cycle I think it will not only be better for the state now but better for the long run.

Tom Taylor, executive director of Emergency Infant Services

Number of the Day

117

Number of Oklahomans killed to date by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Source: The Washington Post

See previous Numbers of the Day here.

Policy Note

Fostering Equitable Foreclosure Recovery

This report provides essential information to inform policy discussions about foreclosure recovery. It presents information about the foreclosure crisis and its consequences, describes the federal program created to help communities recover from the impacts of foreclosures, shares case studies of foreclosure recovery efforts in three regions and suggests policy recommendations for ensuring equitable recovery and building a more just system of housing finance for future generations.

You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.

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State of the State Analysis: Gov. Fallin is playing catch-up

Gene — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:32:12 +0000

Governor Mary Fallin

These diverse problems have a common denominator: they are all substantially caused by inadequate funding to core public services after three straight years of budget cuts. Rather than setting a bold course for Oklahoma’s future, we are playing catch-up just to repair what we have allowed to fall apart.

In the same speech, Governor Fallin proposed a huge cut to the personal income tax. The plan is estimated to cost $350 million in the first full year. It also includes triggers to automatically cut taxes again any time the budget begins to recover.

The effect is that for the foreseeable future, tax cuts are shoved to the front of the line. It won’t matter what problems or responsibilities we face as a state. It won’t matter if our infant mortality stays high, if our water isn’t safe, if our schools are failing, if our communities are devastated by extreme weather. Whenever there is additional revenue, the number one priority will always be tax cuts.

That’s reflected in the Governor’s full budget proposal, which was also released yesterday. Going down the list of percentage changes from this year to next, we see a long string of zeroes. The budget is almost totally flat, which really means we can accomplish less due to inflation, rising health care costs, and further deterioration of infrastructure and equipment that we can’t afford to maintain.

The Governor does propose moving money around to fix some of the worst problems resulting from previous cuts. Certainly we should do this. However, since the pie is not any larger, we will inevitably defund other areas as we try to fix what’s already gone wrong.

What new problems will we hear about in next year’s State of the State address? Will we pay for teacher health benefits by defunding school buses? Will we fix our bridges and let dams break? If the Governor’s plan passes, we may never escape this vicious cycle.

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In The Know: Senate Republicans stop short of endorsing Governor’s tax cut plan

Gene — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:55:18 +0000

Today you should know that Senate Republican leaders said they share Republican Gov. Mary Fallin’s goal of reducing the state income tax, but stopped short of endorsing her plan because it is not revenue neutral. The Tulsa World writes that the Governor’s math does not add up. StateImpact Oklahoma is hunting for business leaders who chose Texas over Oklahoma because of income tax concerns, but they have been unable to find a single name. More on the income tax debate at OK Policy’s tax reform information page.

The Senate Finance Committee killed a bill that would have removed the sales tax exemption for newspapers. The Finance Committee approved an expansion of the homestead exemption that reduces property tax for low-income homeowners. House Speaker-designate T.W. Shannon downplayed talk of an ouster of Speaker Kris Steele.

The OSU student government plans to oppose the legislature taking control of tuition from the State Regents. Now entering its 20th year, the Oklahoma’s Promise scholarship has covered tuition for more than 58,000 graduates. The Affordable Care Act is expected to reduce the number of uninsured in Oklahoma by 57 percent and reduce uncompensated care by 69 percent.

Despite a request from the Governor, leaders of the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations say they will not drop a water rights lawsuit against the state of Oklahoma until a “reasonable resolution” has been reached. Urban Tulsa Weekly reports on efforts by the American Airlines union to protect Tulsa workers from severe layoffs.

The Number of the Day is the percentage of births in Oklahoma attended by nurse-midwives. In today’s Policy Note, The Fact Checker blog explains why an anti-union claim made in a Super Bowl was total nonsense.

In The News

Senate Republicans share Governor’s goal of reducing income tax, stop short of endorsing plan

Republican leaders in the Oklahoma Senate said Tuesday they share Republican Gov. Mary Fallin’s goal of reducing the state income tax, but stopped short of endorsing her plan to cut the top rate by nearly 2 percent beginning in January. Sen. Rick Brinkley said Senate Republicans plan to give careful consideration to the recommendations of a task force that suggested a more modest cut in the state income tax that was revenue-neutral. The Task Force on Comprehensive Tax Reform suggested cutting the state’s top income tax rate from 5.25 percent to 4.75 percent over the next two years. Like Fallin’s plan, the task force suggested offsetting the lost revenue by eliminating dozens of tax credits and exemptions. But unlike Fallin’s proposal, which is expected to cost the state about $350 million a year when fully implemented, the task force’s proposal would be revenue-neutral.

Read more from The Tulsa World.

On the hunt for corporate Oklahoma expats in Texas

Oklahomans have been hearing variations on the same theme for more than a decade: “No-income tax Texas gets all the business.” The arguments: 1) corporations or businesses move from Oklahoma to Texas because it lacks an income tax, or, 2) corporate and business leaders relocating from other states choose Texas over Oklahoma because of income tax concerns. We haven’t found either — and we’ve been asking around and looking for months. We’ve asked top elected officials, economists, agency directors, think-tank academics and business leaders. But we keep coming up empty. There have been vague mentions of acquaintances and anecdotal, anonymous references, but nothing solid. And never any names. A state’s tax policy is a miniscule consideration when business leaders are considering a relocation, a half-dozen economists tell us.

Read more from The Tulsa World.

Senate will consider increase of homestead exemption

About 4,200 of Oklahoma’s poorest homeowners would benefit under a proposed adjustment to the state’s property tax law. The proposed law, which was passed out of the Senate finance committee Tuesday, would enable more low-income households to qualify for a doubling of their homestead tax exemption. The homestead exemption is a $1,000 reduction in the assessed value of someone’s primary place of residence. Sen. Gary Stanislawski, R-Tulsa, and author of Senate Bill 1036, said the increased exemption will cost local jurisdictions about $416,000 a year. The bill itself raises the income threshold to qualify for the tax break from $20,000 to $22,000 or half of the median income for each county, whichever is greater. It enables more families to receive a doubling of their homestead exemption. The tax break would help the poor, but Sen. Roger Ballenger, D-Okmulgee, said he was concerned about the impact it would have on school funding.

Read more from NewsOK.

House Speaker-designate downplays talk of ouster

State House Speaker-Designate T.W. Shannon said Tuesday he expects a noisy but productive session this year in the House of Representatives, despite speculation that social conservatives will be working to undermine the authority of House leadership. Shannon, R-Lawton, said he and House Speaker Kris Steele, R-Shawnee, get along and he expects a smooth transition. Steele cannot seek re-election this year because of legislative term limits; his term ends in mid-November. House Republicans in November elected Shannon as designated speaker to succeed Steele. Shannon defeated Steele’s choice, Speaker Pro Tem Jeff Hickman, R-Fairview, which caused some in the House Republican caucus to proclaim Shannon’s victory was a repudiation of the speaker’s leadership.

Read more from NewsOK.

OSU student government opposes legislature taking control of tuition

The Student Government Association will state an official position opposing the state legislature’s control of tuition rates at tonight’s meeting. Last week, a resolution was proposed to the Senate by Senator Ben Wolff, an entrepreneurship and marketing sophomore, stating that the Board of Regents for Oklahoma A&M Colleges should remain in control of tuition rates. It is easy to get in contact with a Board of Regents member, Wolff said. They are appointed by the Governor specifically for OSU, so they do not use school tuition as a political tool. “The Board of Regents knows exactly what is going on with OSU and what OSU needs to do to remain as successful as possible,” Wolff said. “State legislators have many other responsibilities. It would be much more difficult for a student’s voice to reach the State legislators; the Board of Regents has our best interest in mind.”

Read more from The Tulsa World.

Affordable Care Act to substantially expand coverage, reduce uncompensated care in Oklahoma

The Affordable Care Act, the federal health care law that takes full effect in 2014, is expected to provide health insurance coverage to over 335,000 uninsured Oklahomans and reduce the state’s uncompensated health care costs by more than two-thirds , according to a new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). Currently, some 597,000 Oklahomans, or 19 percent of the non-elderly population, lack health insurance. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the number of uninsured is projected to fall by 57 percent to 259,000, or 10 percent of the non-elderly population. Oklahoma’s 57 percent drop exceeds the national average of 48 percent and is the tenth highest drop among the states. The study also projects that the ACA’s coverage expansion will significantly reduce the amount of uncompensated care provided by Oklahoma hospitals, doctors, and other health care professionals and facilities. Uncompensated care costs are projected to fall by over two-thirds, 69 pecent, from $886 million annually to $277 million.

Read more from NewsOK.

Specter of layoffs settles over Tulsa despite cooperative efforts of AA union

The news came down on Feb. 1. American Airlines, the largest employer in northeast Oklahoma for the past 65 years, will attempt to lay off more than 2,000 employees in the Tulsa area. A letter from Tom Horton, the chairman and chief executive officer of American Airlines, addressed “Dear American Team,” was sent out last Wednesday. The three-page letter is littered with public relations euphemisms but makes its intentions clear: “Change — a necessity not a choice.” The letter details the changes the company will make to “renew and optimize our fleet,” “build the scale of our network and alliances,” and “modernize our brand, products and services.” Essentially, to maximize profits, AA will be making “necessary employee related changes.” Transport Workers Union Local 514 organizer Rick Mullings wasn’t surprised by the news, but he’s not happy either. The area with the fewest targeted layoffs (besides pilots) is management, the most bloated part of the company, according to Mullings. American has hired on three separate businesses to “tell management how to manage,” Mullings said. “They managed them into bankruptcy.”

Quote of the Day

“There was a lack of negotiations or meaningful engagement until we filed our suit, and if we dismissed, our current court-ordered mediations would cease.”
-Chickasaw and Choctaw tribal leaders, responding to a letter by Gov. Fallin calling for them to drop their lawsuit over water rights in Oklahoma

Number of the Day

3.3 percent

Percentage of births in Oklahoma attended by nurse-midwives, 1,827 babies in 2007

Source: American College of Nurse-Midwives

See previous Numbers of the Day here.

Policy Note

A nonsense fact in a Super Bowl ad

“Only ten percent of people in unions today actually voted to join the union.” A group that supports a bill in Congress that would require every unionized workplace to recertify their union every three years made this interesting claim in a TV ad that ran during the Super Bowl. The Center for Union Facts also asserted this fact in an advertisement that ran in The New York Times, featuring the dictatorial leadership of North Korea as apparent stand-ins for union leaders. The Center for Union Facts is part of a web of pro-corporate organizations run by Rick Berman, who has also battled Mothers Against Drunk Driving, disputed evidence regarding mercury levels in fish and countered a perceived link between high-fructose corn syrup and obesity. … The more we dug into the NLRB reports, the more dubious this statistic became. The reports show consistent support for unions when the matter has been put to a vote through the NLRB process.

Report: Affordable Care Act to substantially expand coverage, reduce uncompensated care in Oklahoma

David — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:30:39 +0000

Currently, some 597,000 Oklahomans, or 19 percent of the non-elderly population, lack health insurance. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the number of uninsured is projected to fall by 57 percent to 259,000, or 10 percent of the non-elderly population. Oklahoma’s 57 percent drop exceeds the national average of 48 percent and is the tenth highest drop among the states.

The researchers, who are health care policy experts at the Urban Institute, use the Health Insurance Policy Simulation Model to build projections of how coverage will be affected by the new law. For Oklahoma and for the nation, they find that the ACA will lead to more people with both public and private health insurance. Specifically, they project that:

An additional 202,000 Oklahomans will be covered by Medicaid. Of this population, 17 percent, or 36,000 people, are currently eligible but unenrolled for Medicaid, while the remaining 83 percent will be newly eligible as a result of the expansion of Medicaid eligibility to 138 percent of the federal poverty level for adults. These numbers further refute an alarmist study put out last year by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs which projected huge new costs for Oklahoma under the ACA based on four times as many currently eligible but unenrolled people signing up for Medicaid.
An additional 135,000 Oklahomans will be covered through private insurance, either through their employer or in the non-group market. The study projects an increase of 77,000 people covered through their employers and an additional 58,000 people covered in the non-group market.
Of the 2.0 million Oklahomans who will have private coverage after the law takes effect, some 275,000 are expected to purchase coverage through the new health insurance exchanges that will operate beginning in 2014. Of this population, some 100,000 are expected to be eligible for premium subsidies to assist with the cost of care.

The study also projects that the ACA’s coverage expansion will significantly reduce the amount of uncompensated care provided by Oklahoma hospitals, doctors, and other health care professionals and facilities. Uncompensated care costs are projected to fall by over two-thirds, 69 percent, from $886 million annually to $277 million. Nationally, uncompensated care costs are projected to fall by 51 percent.

The study notes that Oklahoma, like several of the states that stand to see the greatest benefit from the Affordable Care Act, has made little progress towards implementing the new law. According to the study, Oklahoma is among 15 states that has not yet implemented a health insurance exchange or demonstrated significant interest in doing so, and one of only six states to have taken no legislative action in 2011. The federal government will run the exchange in states that are not ready to launch a state-based exchange by January 2014, . Whether Oklahoma still can or should develop an exchange is certain to be a hotly contested issue during the 2012 legislative session. Yet unless the entire law is struck down (a question we will address in a forthcoming post), this report provides further grounds for confidence that the state’s long-standing problems associated with high rates of uninsured and uncompensated care should be significantly eased in the years ahead.

Click here to see the study, “State Progress Toward Health Reform Implementation: Slower Moving States Have Much to Gain”

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In The Know: Gov. Fallin releases plan to abolish income tax

Gene — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:50:15 +0000

Today you should know that Gov. Fallin outlined a budget plan to deeply reduce Oklahoma’s personal income tax rate by eliminating dozens of tax exemptions, including many claimed by poor and working-class Oklahomans. It would also significantly reduce state revenues and include a trigger that cuts the rate further any time the budget begins to recover. OK Policy released a statement in response to the plan. Find more on the tax debate here, including a new action alert on why it’s important to save the income tax and what you can do today.

An overcrowded prison system, an outdated state water plan, and a child welfare system failing to properly care for vulnerable Oklahoma children are a few of the problems facing lawmakers in the 2012 legislative session, which began yesterday. OK Policy released an updated 2012 Legislative Primer explaining how state government and the legislative process works. Gov. Fallin announced that she has signed an executive order banning tobacco use on state property.

The Tulsa World summarizes a new report outlining how DHS failed to protect three young Oklahoma children. See the full report from the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth. The Oklahoma Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to the DHS settlement of a lawsuit over foster care abuses. A Senate committee approved a “personhood bill” the defines life as beginning at conception. The OU Daily writes that this bill would bring dangerous and extreme consequences.

Rep. Jason Murphey said he believes it is only a matter of time before open records and open meetings laws are applied to the Oklahoma Legislature. NewsOK writes that cutting funding for OETA would be a disservice to the state. The Number of the Day is the average savings on Rx drugs per Oklahoma Medicare beneficiary in 2011 because of changes made by the new health care law. In today’s Policy Note, Governing Magazine discusses the crucial choice states face over essential health benefits as the Affordable Care Act is implemented.

In The News

Fallin plans to cut income tax by eliminating exemptions claimed by many residents

Gov. Mary Fallin outlined a budget plan Monday to deeply reduce Oklahoma’s personal income tax rate by eliminating dozens of tax exemptions, including many claimed by poor and working-class Oklahomans. Her plan would impose a revenue-growth trigger that would further reduce the income tax by one-quarter of 1 percent each time state revenues grow by at least 5 percent. Her budget officials said the plan calls for making up the estimated $1 billion in lost revenue by eliminating nearly 40 different tax credits, including the child care and sales tax relief credits for low-income Oklahomans. It would also end personal exemptions claimed by about 1.5 million Oklahoma tax filers each year. “Low-income families with children and low-income seniors will pay more in income tax. That’s a concern,” said David Blatt, director of the Oklahoma Policy Institute, a Tulsa-based think-tank. “It’s cut taxes first and then ask questions later.” Democrats also blasted the plan, saying it makes little sense for Fallin to call for increased funding for transportation, education and performance audits for state agencies while endorsing a plan to slash a funding source that accounts for more than one-third of state revenue.

Read more from the Associated Press.

See also: Governor Fallin’s plan to end income tax would bust huge hole in the state budget from Oklahoma Policy Institute

Prison crowding, proposed reforms to child services among issue awaiting Okla. lawmakers

An overcrowded prison system, an outdated state water plan and a child welfare system that has drawn criticism for failing to properly care for vulnerable Oklahoma children are just a few of the problems facing lawmakers when they return to the state Capitol on Monday for the start of the 2012 legislative session. When the final budget figures are certified later this month, lawmakers are expected to have about $100 million to $150 million less to spend this year because of the loss of one-time revenue that was used to plug holes in the current budget. Revenue collections have improved, but lawmakers used nearly $357 million in special cash appropriations on the current state budget, including $101 million from a transportation fund, $100 million from the state’s constitutional reserve fund, and $156 million in transfers from various state revolving funds, according to the Office of State Finance. And while state leaders are projecting a flat budget with no increase in funding for state agencies, there is no shortage of ambitious ideas being proposed for the upcoming session.

Read more from the Associated Press.

Gov. Fallin signs order to ban tobacco use on state property

Tobacco products at all state-owned and leased properties and in state-owned and leased buildings and vehicles will be banned effective July 1 under an executive order signed Monday by Gov. Mary Fallin. The announcement drew applause, but groans were heard seconds later in the House of Representatives chamber when she announced the ban would mean the closing of a smoking room in the state Capitol for lawmakers and employees. “You’re going to like this one, too,” she joked as she announced the smoking room, in the Capitol’s basement, would be remodeled — at no expense to the state — into a small fitness center. The state is seeking a grant from the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust and the Oklahoma Hospital Association has agreed to match it, Fallin said.

Read more from NewsOK.

The 2012 Legislative Primer: Your program for Opening Day of the legislative session

How many bills are filed each year? Who is the Cabinet Secretary of Science and Technology? How much money is there in the Rainy Day Fund? Why does it take so long for a bill to be passed? As the 2012 Oklahoma Legislative session gets underway, a new, fully-updated publication from Oklahoma Policy Institute will answer these questions and more. Whether you are a veteran legislator, a complete novice to Oklahoma politics, or anyone in between, the 2012 OKLAHOMA LEGISLATIVE PRIMER will provide you invaluable information in a concise, user-friendly format.

Read more from The Tulsa World.

See also: Full report from the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth

Oklahoma Supreme Court declines to hear DHS lawsuit settlement challenge

The state Supreme Court without comment Monday denied hearing a lawsuit that challenged whether a three-member board acted properly in approving a modified settlement of a federal class-action lawsuit that accused the state Department of Human Services of harming children in its foster homes and state shelters. The decision was unanimous. The agreement by the board since has been approved by both the DHS commissioners and Children’s Rights, a New-York based group that filed the federal lawsuit in 2008. A federal judge gave preliminary approval to the agreement last month; a hearing on the settlement is set for Feb. 29 in Tulsa federal court.

Read more from NewsOK.

Oklahoma Senate Panel approves personhood bill

A bill that would declare that personhood starts at conception is headed to the Senate floor. Senate Bill 1433, by Sen. Brian Crain, R-Tulsa, passed the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services on Monday, the first day of the legislative session. The measure says life begins at conception. “Unborn children have protectable interest in life, health and well-being,” the bill says. “The laws of this state shall be interpreted and construed to acknowledge on behalf of the unborn child at every stage of development all rights, privileges, and immunities available to other persons, citizens and residents of this state,” it says. In response to that bill, Sen. Jim Wilson, D-Tahlequah, who is strongly pro-choice, offered an amendment that would make the father of an unborn child financially responsible for its mother’s health care, housing, transportation and nourishment while she is pregnant. Wilson’s amendment failed.

Read more from The Tulsa World.

See also: ‘Personhood Act’ brings dangerous and extreme consequences from the OU Daily

Open Records bill for Legislature picks up momentum

Last Thursday, Speaker of the House Kris Steele publicly announced his support of the proposal to apply open records and meetings laws to the Oklahoma Legislature. In Oklahoma, with the exception of the Legislature, government entities must follow a set of laws designed to ensure public access to the proceedings of government. This is one of our most important statutes because it helps to ensure your right to know how your taxpayer dollars are being spent. These laws dictate that no governing board can take action without taking a vote in public and with certain exemptions, the documents held by the board may be accessed by the taxpayers. I firmly believe it is only a matter of time before this law is applied to the Legislature as well.

Read more from NewsOK.

Quote of the Day

Gov. Fallin cannot expect to cut and then eliminate the state income tax, which constitutes one-third of the state’s revenue, and in the same breath, talk about making the Department of Human Services one of the best in the nation, or repairing all our bridges by 2019.
-Rep. Mike Brown, D-Tahlequah

Number of the Day

$525.39

Average savings on Rx drugs per Oklahoma Medicare beneficiary in 2011 because of changes made by the new health care law.

Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

See previous Numbers of the Day here.

Policy Note

States face crucial choices over essential health benefits

In December, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released some initial guidance for states on the essential health benefits (EHB) — 10 areas of care — that must be covered by plans sold within the health insurance exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Last month, HHS outlined three small-group insurance plans in each state that could provide a benchmark. But with less than a year until states must demonstrate to HHS that they can operate an exchange (if they so choose to pursue one), questions about the essential health benefits and the costs that will result from states’ benchmarks linger, a panel assembled by the Alliance for Health Reform and the Commonwealth Fund said Friday. Regardless of whether a state opts to develop its own exchange or allow the federal government to do so, each state still must select a benchmark plan. If a state chooses not to do that either, the largest small-group plan in the state will be the default.

STATEMENT: Governor Fallin’s plan to end income tax would bust huge hole in the state budget

Gene — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:04:54 +0000

Oklahoma Policy Institute Director David Blatt released a statement today in response to Governor Fallin’s plan for an immediate tax cut and ultimate elimination of the state income tax:

Governor Fallin’s plan would bust a huge and permanent hole in the budget. After three straight years of cuts to services, further tax cuts should not be a higher priority than educating our children, training our workforce, fixing our infrastructure, and ensuring public safety. The plan will make us less healthy, less safe, and less attractive to business.

Her proposal to stretch out the tax brackets to reflect modern income levels is a step in the right direction and an improvement on earlier plans from the legislature. However, by doing away with the child tax credit, sales tax relief credit, and other tax preferences that help hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans, the Governor’s plan would still unfairly increase taxes on many low and moderate-income seniors and families with children. We urge the Governor to seek more input from those who would be affected by these dramatic changes and work towards adopting tax policies that are fair to all Oklahomans and adequate to our state’s responsibilities.

For more information on the tax debate, see OK Policy’s tax reform information page at http://okpolicy.org/tax-reform-information.

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The 2012 Legislative Primer: Your program for Opening Day of the legislative session

Gene — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:15:02 +0000

How many bills are filed each year? Who is the Cabinet Secretary of Science and Technology? How much money is there in the Rainy Day Fund? Why does it take so long for a bill to be passed?

As the 2012 Oklahoma Legislative session gets underway, a new, fully-updated publication from Oklahoma Policy Institute will answer these questions and more. Whether you are a veteran legislator, a complete novice to Oklahoma politics, or anyone in between, the 2012 OKLAHOMA LEGISLATIVE PRIMER will provide you invaluable information in a concise, user-friendly format. The Primer has sections on:

Composition of the Legislature
The Executive Branch
Legislative Session
Policy Path
Budget Process
Legislative resources

You can view the 2012 Legislative Primer on scribd ordownload it as a PDF.

You might also want to check out another free resource packed with information about how Oklahoma state and local governments collect and spend public money: OK Policy’s Online Budget Guide.

For those just getting interested in state and local government, like students, newly elected leaders, new public employees, and businesses that want to work with government, it’s a broad introductory text. For readers who are experienced in government, the Guide can help answer quick questions from steps in the budget process through how we spend federal grants.

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In The Know: Bonuses for Oklahoma teachers with national certification may not return

Gene — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:38:00 +0000

Today you should know that even though lawmakers are looking for ways to finish paying bonuses to teachers who earned National Board Certification, the program may be put on hold or phased out after this year. The Department of Public Safety commissioner said that due to budget cuts, state trooper strength is at its lowest level in 22 years. Governor Fallin will release details of her plan to slash the income tax in today’s State of the State address. In the legislative session beginning today, tax cuts will be in competition with potentially costly plans to reform prisons, rebuild the state foster care program under a court settlement, improve college graduation rates, and improve state roads. Find more on the tax debate at OK Policy’s tax reform information page.

Terri White, the head of Oklahoma’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, will also serve as interim chief of DHS while the state conducts a national search to replace outgoing Director Howard Hendrick. OETA’s executive director is disputing a lawmaker’s claim that 17 states have quit funding public television without losing their PBS signal. The loss of 2,100 jobs at the Tulsa American Airlines facility is likely to ripple through the area economy.

After resolving court battles with affected landowners, the Keystone pipeline is ready to come through Oklahoma. The FBI created a fake Georgia company in 2008 so an agent could go undercover to secretly investigate the Oklahoma Legislature for corruption. Sen. Shortey is proposing several measures that would dismantle Oklahoma’s judicial branch of government. Janet Pearson writes about the need to invest in programs addressing a national epidemic of child abuse.

The Number of the Day is Oklahoma’s national rank for state and local taxes paid as a percentage of personal income. In today’s Policy Note, President Obama is proposing performance-based funding for colleges and universities to rewards schools that keep tuition low.

In The News

Bonuses for Oklahoma teachers with national certification may not return

Ann Kennedy teaches government and history at Southeast High School in Oklahoma City. Her heart always has been with Oklahoma City students, but she hasn’t always been the best teacher, she said. Ten years ago, she went through the rigorous process of earning National Board Certification. “The first time I did it, it really helped me focus more on what I was teaching, why I was teaching, the outcomes I was getting,” she said. “The end result was that I became a better teacher.” Kennedy is one of about 3,300 Nationally Board Certified teachers in Oklahoma. Like the rest of her colleagues, this year Kennedy didn’t receive the $5,000 bonus promised to teachers who earn the distinction. Three state legislators have proposed bills this year that would finish paying bonuses to teachers like Kennedy. But what happens after that payout is where the lawmakers differ. One wants to phase out the program. Another wants to put it on hold. A third wants to reinstate it. In a year where the state faces a $100 million budget shortfall, the fate of a $15 million teacher incentive program is up in the air.

Read more from NewsOK.

Notes from the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Judiciary and Public Safety

Below are edited notes taken during the meeting of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Judiciary and Public Safety held on Friday, February 3, 2012. It is not a complete transcript of the meeting. Michael C. Thompson, Department of Public Safety Commissioner: We’ve been cut about $14M over last couple years. FTEs are at 1,351 down from 1,664 three years ago. Down to 36 Driver’s License stations in the state right now. Our trooper strength is as low as it’s been in the last 22 years. Hard to provide level of service needed. Not trying to be alarmist, but at 759 troopers, we need to put money into our Highway Patrol or we will continue to struggle to provide the level of service. Putting troopers at risk by not having a partner. When nearest backup is 45-minutes away, a lot can happen in 45 minutes. We’ve lost 84 troopers to retirement since our last patrol school.

Read more from the Associated Press.

See also: Tax Reform Information from the Oklahoma Policy Institute

Session open, GOP plans to stay the course

With the state Capitol building literally crumbling around it, the Oklahoma Legislature returns to Oklahoma City and the task of rebuilding the state economy. “This Legislature committed itself to building a pro-growth Oklahoma and will remain focused on that mission this session,” said Speaker of the House Kris Steele, R-Shawnee. “From a policy standpoint, what we’re doing is working.” Meanwhile, Democrats argue it’s time to reverse course and fix the man-made problems the Republican leadership has brought the state. “First and foremost, our budget shortfalls over the past few years are a consequence of the decisions the Legislature has made,” said Minority Leader Scott Inman, D-Del City. “We have a revenue crisis, not a budget crisis. Republican leaders are again calling for further cuts to state services, claiming there’s a budget shortfall and their hands are tied, but this reeks of hypocrisy given that our budget shortfall does not deter them from radical efforts to again further reduce the income tax for the wealthiest among us.” The state budget still hasn’t recovered from the impact of the recession, meaning state employees haven’t had raises for several years, teachers have been shortchanged on promised merit-pay stipends and taxpayers have seen the services offered by state agencies in decline. Meanwhile, potentially costly plans to reform prisons, rebuild the state foster care program under a court settlement, improve college graduation rates, improve state roads and reduce or eliminate the state income tax will be in competition.

Read more from The Tulsa World.

Oklahoma’s mental health chief to be DHS interim director

The head of Oklahoma’s mental health agency was chosen Friday to be interim director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. White said Friday she will continue in her current position as commissioner of the state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. She said she will work out of offices at both agencies. “Some days, I may be back and forth six times,” she said. DHS commissioners hope to choose a new director before July 1 after conducting a national search. White said she would not accept the DHS position permanently.

Read more from NewsOK.

OETA Exec disputes claims of lawmaker

OETA’s executive director is disputing a state lawmaker’s claim that 17 states have quit funding public television without losing their PBS signal. State Rep. Leslie Osborn, R-Tuttle, has proposed cutting off state funding to OETA, Oklahoma’s public broadcasting network, over a five-year period so the money could be used for higher-priority issues. Osborn said 17 other states have eliminated funding for public television without any of the states losing their public television stations. John McCarroll, executive director of OETA, said the latest report from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting shows that only eight states provide no funding for public television. McCarroll said that in some states public television funding isn’t directly appropriated but comes through state institutions of higher education or community groups. Other states that aren’t funding public television now have never done so – so it’s not accurate to say that the states eliminated anything, he said. And it is unfair to compare some other states because they don’t have a statewide broadcasting mission like OETA’s.

Read more from The Tulsa World.

American Airlines layoffs likely to ripple through Tulsa-area economy

Each weekday just before noon, Milad Al-khouri’s Christy’s BBQ restaurant fills up with hungry aerospace workers from nearby Spirit Aerosystems, NORDAM and American Airlines. Now he wonders if change is on its way. “At least 20 or 25 percent of everyone who comes in here is from American Airlines,” Al-khouri said. “It’s scary for us, too, because it puts our business in jeopardy.” The future of Al-khouri’s business got a little hazier after Wednesday. That was the day American Airlines parent company AMR Corp. outlined plans to cut nearly $2 billion in costs and 13,000 employees, including at least 2,100 of the 7,200 positions at the 56-year-old Tulsa maintenance base. Tulsa Metro Chamber president and CEO Mike Neal said American Airlines maintenance base employees are spread across the region and contribute important spending to retailers, car dealers, hospitals and other local businesses.

Read more from The Tulsa World.

Keystone pipeline is ready to come through Oklahoma

Oklahoma landowners who live, farm and ranch in the path of the Keystone XL oil pipeline fought their battles during the past three years and have now washed their hands of the matter even as it becomes a key issue in Washington politics. The Keystone XL pipeline would stretch from Canada to the Gulf Coast carrying crude oil to refineries near Houston. The pipeline, estimated to cost $7 billion, has been rejected by the U.S. State Department and President Barack Obama amid a number of concerns, including the path the pipeline takes through Nebraska. But in Oklahoma, a portion of the pipeline already has been built, and Howard said the company is 99 percent done with land negotiations for right of way in the state. TransCanada filed at least 60 condemnation cases against Oklahoma property owners in the past three years, according to court records. Harlan Hentges, an attorney representing property owners in Bryan County, said the company dropped its attempt to use eminent domain to acquire right of way on property owned by the White family. “It is a victory,” Hentges, of Edmond, said. “But they just went around them, and they had already basically threatened eminent domain against every other landowner that they went across in Oklahoma.”

Read more from NewsOK.

FBI created fake company for corruption probe of Oklahoma legislature

The FBI created a fake Georgia company in 2008 so an agent could go undercover to secretly investigate the Oklahoma Legislature for corruption. No one was ever charged out of the sting operation, and the company ceased to exist last year. The bogus company was named Road Safety International LLC. Its address was a suite in Alpharetta, Ga. To look legitimate, it filed organizational paperwork with the Georgia Secretary of State, created a website, printed up promotional material and paid $750 to join an Oklahoma association. A male FBI agent posed as a company executive. Undercover with him was another man, believed to be a retired agent. They eventually hired an unsuspecting Oklahoma lobbyist, Andrew Skeith. The existence of the undercover operation came to light after Skeith, former Senate President Pro Tem Mike Morgan and prominent Oklahoma City attorney Martin Stringer were indicted last year.

Read more from the Associated Press.

Shortey sets sights on ‘dismantling’ third branch

The Legislature convenes Monday, which means that lawmakers will spend the coming months addressing a long list of important issues and a whole bunch of half-baked, half-cocked and half-arsed measures. Out of a crowd partial to Ripley’s-Believe-It-or-Not legislation, freshman Sen. Ralph Shortey, R-Oklahoma City, towers above the rest. This year, Shortey has decided that the state really doesn’t need a third branch of government. Toward that goal, Shortey proposes to put two state questions before voters. One would ask them to abolish the state Court of Criminal Appeals and the second, to eliminate the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s power to review the constitutionality of laws. It’s unclear what replaces the Court of Criminal Appeals that handles hundreds of criminal appeals and writs affecting life and liberty. Shortey does, however, specify what gets subbed in for the Supreme Court on judicial review – a body called the “Ad Hoc Court of Constitutional Review” – players TBA later. My guess is the Legislature gets to pack that “court.”

Read more from The Tulsa World.

Child abuse, neglect a growing epidemic

We’ve all known it’s been a really bad problem for a long, long time. But across the nation, new data are surfacing to illustrate just how bad the problem is – and what must be done to keep the epidemic of child abuse and neglect from worsening. Just last week, a 23-member legislative committee issued its report on the state’s foster-care system, recommending, among other steps, that state leaders “adequately fund” the child-welfare system. Oklahoma, recent national reports suggest, is not alone when it comes to the daunting challenge of protecting children. Child abuse and neglect is such a huge problem one federal agency now is calling it a major public health problem. The problem has become so serious Congress is now considering adopting federal legislation to look into child-welfare systems and what ails them. The Center for Disease Control cited findings that show “each death due to child maltreatment had a lifetime cost of about $1.3 million, almost all of it in money that the child would have earned over a lifetime if he or she had lived.” Though the enormity of the problem makes progress difficult, there are ways of addressing it. “A promising array of prevention and response programs have great potential to reduce child maltreatment. Given the substantial economic burden of child maltreatment, the benefits of prevention will likely outweigh the costs for effective programs,” CDC concluded. In other words, sometimes you do have to throw money at a problem.

Read more from The Tulsa World.

Quote of the Day

I honestly spent more time, and I got more out of doing my National Board Certification, than I did my master’s degree.
-Ann Kennedy, who teaches government and history at Southeast High School in Oklahoma City

Number of the Day

40th

Oklahoma’s national rank for state and local taxes paid as a percentage of personal income, 2009

Source: Oklahoma Policy Institute

See previous Numbers of the Day here.

Policy Note

Obama’s higher ed plan prompts debate

In laying out his vision for performance-based funding for colleges and universities last week, President Obama issued a warning to higher education institutions. “If you can’t stop tuition from going up,” Obama said in a speech at the University of Michigan on Friday, “then the funding you get from taxpayers each year will go down.” Obama’s plan also includes a “Race to the Top”—similar to his earlier K-12 initiative—that would reward states with bonus funding for results such as limiting the cost of higher education. Some officials liked the concept. “He’s proposing a form of performance funding for a portion of federal spending, and my view is that, whatever level of funding we’re talking about, that’s the approach we ought to take,” Bill Powers, president of the University of Texas, told the Times. Still, many college officials also were skeptical. Illinois State University President Al Bowman objected that a focus on controlling costs would risk degrading the quality of higher education. “You could hire mostly part-time, adjunct faculty,” Bowman told the Associated Press. “You could teach in much larger lecture halls, but the things that would allow you achieve the greatest levels of efficiency would dilute the product and would make it something I wouldn’t be willing to be part of.” University of Washington President Mike Young objected that the plans would punish schools for something out of their control, since state funding plays such a large role in determining tuition costs.

The Weekly Wonk – February 3rd, 2012

Kate — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:38:13 +0000

What’s up this week at Oklahoma Policy Institute? The Weekly Wonk is dedicated to this week’s events, publications, and blog posts.

This week OK Policy and the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) co-released the 2012 Assets and Opportunity Scorecard, which showed that more than one in four Oklahoma households are “asset poor,” meaning they have little or no financial cushion to rely on in an emergency. The Tulsa World and the Oklahoman covered Oklahoma’s Scorecard results in depth.

We pointed out that if legislators make the choice to prioritize tax cuts, they cannot pretend to be blameless when funds aren’t available for crucial services. We hosted a debate about whether or not to require a prescription for pseudoephedrine, featuring Jessica Hawkins, the Director of Prevention Services for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, and former state Senator Ed Long.

Finally this week, the Associated Press quoted us in an article on a regional trend of GOP action to axe state income taxes. The Tulsa World presented a summary of our issue brief defending the income tax. The Journal Record cited our work on worsening poverty in Oklahoma and legislative proposals that would make it even harder to be poor. The OK Policy Blog featured a short video about ‘community schools,’ a comprehensive approach to education that makes the school the hub of the community.

Numbers of the Day

$136 – Average tax increase on elderly Oklahoma couples with $35,000 in income under a legislative proposal to eliminate a slate of broad-based tax credits and exemptions.
8,100 – Number of manufacturing jobs added in Oklahoma from January to December of 2011, up 8.4 percent for the year.
178, 020 – Number of Oklahoma children under age 6 who need daily child care during the week because their primary caregiver/s participate in the labor force, 2009
6,592 – Number of Oklahomans who tested for their GED in 2009; 70.1 percent received their GED, just above the average national pass rate of 69.4 percent.
11^th – Oklahoma’s rank among the states in percentage of households with no computer in their home, 2010

In The Know, Policy Notes

The Foundation for Child Development finds that states with higher taxes and greater investment in public programs score highest for Child Well-Being.
The Economic Policy Institute points out that the massive tax cuts propose by GOP presidential candidates don’t square with professed concerns about public debt.
Demos shows that the pay premium gained by joining the federal workforce is reserved largely for less-skilled workers, and rather than disparaging public sector pay levels, we should embrace them as standards from which the private sector has shamefully deviated over the last three decades.
The Shriver Center examines the trend of states issuing public benefits through bankcards and the implications of card fees for low-income people.
Bloomberg Businessweek reports on falling premiums for Medicare Advantage, a private health insurance option for Medicare beneficiaries.

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