State Question 751 passed last fall with 75 percent of voters agreeing to amend the state constitution to make English Oklahoma’s official language.  The amendment, currently being challenged in district court, formally recognized English as the common language in which official state business shall be conducted.  Two identical bills introduced this session designed to implement the new amendment, HB 2083 and SB 905, go well beyond what voters approved in State Question 751 and enact sweeping and intrusive changes meant to preserve and enhance the role of official English:

For purposes of this section, “preserve and enhance the role of English as the official language” means an affirmative obligation of strict compliance with the letter and spirit of the Oklahoma Official English Implementation Act including, but not limited to, promoting the use of English by all persons in Oklahoma and avoiding the use of languages other than English for official actions.  This obligation shall be presumed to be superseded if use of a language other than English is specifically required by federal or state law or is permitted by the Oklahoma Constitution, but only to the extent necessary for an individual circumstance, and not as a general policy.

The ‘Oklahoma Official English Language Implementation Act’ acknowledges Oklahoma’s history with “persons from diverse linguistic backgrounds” and carves out particular exceptions for Native languages.  The obligation to use English-only can also be superseded if “specifically required” by federal or state law.  The problem with this presumably well-intentioned exception is that federal law, in most instances, doesn’t explicitly require that anything be offered in another language.  Instead, federal agencies have issued a loose set of guidelines to their respective state counterparts based on Department of Justice guidance, asking that each agency make a determination for itself whether or not using a language besides English is necessary. Read the rest of this entry »

Like most people who watch public budgets, we tend to focus on what is being spent, at the expense of what is being bought. Our upcoming Online Guide to Oklahoma Budget and Taxes looks at state and local expenditures more broadly than the traditional view. For each of six functional areas, the Guide reminds us why we have asked government to take some responsibility and what we hope will result from this collective effort. Then we offer some measures we can use to check progress.

Here are some excerpts from our section on Health and Social Services:

Human, health and social services provide the safety net that is essential to our society. Most Oklahomans agree that government should insure that vulnerable individuals and families can meet their basic needs. It also should promote healthy lifestyles that reduce public and private costs.

Our measures of success in this area suggest we have work to do.

• 15.9 percent of Oklahomans are poor, according to the federal definition, compared to 11 percent nationwide.
• Oklahoma ranked 43rd in overall health in 2007, according to the United Health Foundation.
• 18.7 percent of Oklahomans did not have health insurance in 2006, making Oklahoma 5th highest in uninsured population.

Read the rest of this entry »