The Weekly Wonk is a summary of Oklahoma Policy Institute’s events, publications, blog posts, and coverage.  Numbers of the Day and Policy Notes are from our daily news briefing, In The Know.  Click here to subscribe to In The Know.

OK Policy’s Executive Director, David Blatt’s Journal Record column explains why the Legislature’s refusal to approve any new bonds is financially irresponsible. KJRH, mentioned OK Policy in their report that despite a recently approved bond issue for Tulsa Public Schools, education funding is still a problem in Oklahoma.

The OK Policy Blog addressed silver linings in the tax cut debate and highlighted social impact bonds, a promising new approach that Oklahoma could use to fund smart on crime reforms. We also discussed a consultant’s report on developing an Oklahoma plan for expanding health coverage, which appears to be moving Oklahoma along a path to accept federal dollars and shared a 3-minute video that sheds light on America’s racial wealth gap.

Numbers of the Day

• 10.0 percent – Percentage of Oklahoma households with a past due mortgage, compared to 10.8 percent nationally
• 11 – The number of payday loans the average borrower takes out over 12 months, ultimately paying $574 in interest on $392 in loans
• $1.4 trillion – Projected GDP growth over 10 years if the U.S. granted resident immigrants legal status and a pathway to citizenship; conversely, mass deportation and ‘zero-immigration’ enforcement policies would decrease GDP by $2.6 trillion over the same period
• 30,000 – The number of Oklahomans, one-third of whom have incomes below the poverty level, who will lose their state-sponsored health coverage if Oklahoma continues to refuse to comply with the Affordable Care Act
• $39,160 – Average annual wage in Oklahoma, 42nd lowest in the U.S. in 2012

Policy Notes

• Jared Bernstein writes in the New York Times that the United States needs a new approach to address a persistent lack of jobs.
• Pro Publica investigates unethical business practices at World Finance, which sells high-interest installment loans in Oklahoma and other states.
• Wonkblog discusses new Congressional Budget Office projections that the U.S. deficit problem is solved for the next 10 years.
• The Atlantic shares two maps that explode one of the biggest myths about student loans.
• The Washington Post reports on the Obama administration’s new draft of regulations for fracking on federal and Indian lands.

It should be of grave concern to Oklahomans that Governor Fallin is proposing to use $50 million in state-only dollars to cover fewer than 10,000 people when we have the opportunity to access federal funds to cover some 150,000 people at little or no state expense. Oklahoma taxpayers and uninsured Oklahomans would be left to suffer to make a political point that the Governor is unwilling to cooperate with the Affordable Care Act.

While the federal government has indicated that Oklahoma must make changes to the Insure Oklahoma program to continue past 2013, it has also emphasized its willingness to work with the state to explore various options, including using the Insure Oklahoma model to purchase private insurance with federal dollars. The Governor’s proposal flies in the face of a preliminary report by the Leavitt Partners, which she requested and contracted with $500,000 taxpayer dollars, that recommends using federal funds to expand health insurance coverage while working to extend Insure Oklahoma beyond this year.

The Legislature should protect Oklahoma’s financial and health care interests by insisting that we provide quality health insurance to the greatest number of people at the least expense to the state.

Today you should know that with just two weeks left in the legislative session, Republican House Speaker T.W. Shannon said he will introduce a measure to repeal common core standards in Oklahoma school districts. The Legislature approved a bill to ban prescription refills of the painkiller hydrocodone. A Senate panel approved a measure to fund the American Indian Cultural Center and a pop culture museum in Tulsa with money taken off the top of sales tax and use tax revenues.

After 18 months of growth, Oklahoma City’s sales tax receipts have dropped two months in a row compared to the previous year. Senate Minority Leader Sean Burrage wrote in the Pryor Daily Times that the income tax cut signed by Governor Fallin will do almost nothing for 80 percent of Oklahomans. M. Scott Carter writes that by combining the tax cut and state Capitol repairs into one bill, lawmakers are thumbing their nose at the state’s constitutional ban on logrolling.

NewsOK writes that Oklahoma corrections officers are hoping for a cool August, since they are unprepared to safely deal with prison riots in the heat. The OK Policy Blog shared a 3-minute video that sheds light on America’s racial wealth gap. This Land Press has an in-depth story on the struggle of descendants of black slaves held by Cherokees to keep their citizenship in the Cherokee Nation.

The Number of the Day is the average annual wage in Oklahoma, 42nd lowest in the U.S. in 2012. In today’s Policy Note, the Washington Post reports on the Obama administration’s new draft of regulations for fracking on federal and Indian lands.

In The News

House Speaker introducing bill to repeal common core standards

Republican House Speaker T.W. Shannon is joining a growing chorus of conservatives opposed to a set of public education principles known as common core state standards. Shannon announced Thursday that with just two weeks left in the legislative session he is unveiling a measure to repeal a 2010 law that requires common core to be implemented by Oklahoma school districts. Common core standards include basic requirements for students to learn in math, English, history, social studies and science. The standards were developed by a consortium of states. Shannon called them a “federal intrusion into our education system.”

Read more from KTUL.

Legislature approves ban on painkiller prescription refills

Two measures intended to help tackle the prescription drug overdose problem in Oklahoma won final legislative approval Thursday and are on their way to the governor. House Bill 1783 would prohibit a written or oral prescription containing the painkiller hydrocodone from being refilled. There are no refill limits now on the drug. The House of Representatives voted 75-6 to accept a Senate amendment to HB 1783, which earlier passed 43-0 in the Senate. The original House version of the measure capped refills at two; the Senate amendment eliminated any refills.

Read more from NewsOK.

Senate panel OKs funds for pop culture museum, American Indian Cultural Center

In a surprise move, a Senate panel approved a measure Thursday to fund construction of a pop culture museum in Tulsa and another to finish the financially troubled American Indian Cultural Center and Museum in Oklahoma City. The Senate Joint Committee on Appropriations and Budget passed Senate Bill 1133, which provides $40 million for the Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture, dubbed OKPOP, to be built in the Brady Arts District. The funds would come from sales taxes taken out of gross revenues before the money is placed into the general revenue fund. It calls for $5 million in fiscal year 2015, another $5 million in fiscal year 2016, $10 million in fiscal year 2017 and a final apportionment of $20 million in fiscal year 2018.

Read more from the Tulsa World.

Sales tax receipts decline for second consecutive month in Oklahoma City

After 18 months of growth, Oklahoma City’s sales tax receipts have dropped two months in a row — a fact that has the attention of city leaders. Sales tax is the biggest single contributor to the city’s budget. Sales tax growth is an indicator of the city’s overall economic health. Adding to concerns are furloughs announced this week by the U.S. Defense Department in response to federal budget cuts that took effect March 1. “Two months are not enough to constitute a trend, but we will certainly be watching this very closely,” said Doug Dowler, the city’s budget director.

Read more from NewsOK.

Sean Burrage: Pay attention to distribution of tax cut

The plan to reduce Oklahoma’s income tax from 5.25 percent to 5.00 beginning in 2015 is a done deal. We know it means losing $200 million from state revenues that could have gone to hire more teachers and properly fund public safety so that we have enough troopers on the road and ensure they’re paid a competitive salary. All along, supporters of income tax reduction plan have talked about the “real” tax relief this bill will bring. According to them, the “average” taxpayer will see a savings of $82 a year—that’s less than a quarter a day. But the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has taken it a step further by showing us how that tax reduction impacts Oklahoman’s by breaking down the tax benefit by household incomes. You might want to pay attention to this.

Read more from the Pryor Daily Times.

Taking the state constitution to heart

Remember the name Jerry Fent. Because he has something important to say. For several years now Fent, an Oklahoma City attorney, has almost single-handedly reminded the Oklahoma Legislature that they should, more often than not, pay attention to the state’s constitution. Fent has filed lawsuit after lawsuit and has successfully taken the Legislature to task for questionable spending, state debt and logrolling – writing and passing bills that have more than one subject. And more often than not Fent has been right. This year, expect to see Fent in court again.

Read more from the Journal Record.

As study unfolds, Oklahoma prison guards hoping for a cool August

Oklahoma made it through the past two broiling summers without a major prison brawl — remarkable, really, considering the state’s lockups are packed with groups that don’t like each other, in facilities that aren’t fully air conditioned. And, with little to stop inmates if they do decide to rumble. Only three-fifths of the state’s correctional officer positions are filled. Keeping even that many men and women on the job is difficult because the pay is bad. The starting wage for a prison guard is $11.83 per hour, lower than what the same job pays in neighboring states and certainly below what’s available in local oil field jobs.

Read more from NewsOK.

Watch This: The racial wealth gap in America

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.

Read more from the OK Policy Blog.

From One Fire

On an oppressively hot evening last May, David Cornsilk addressed a room of so-called “black Indians” at Gilcrease Hills Baptist Church in northwest Tulsa. He wore a leather-braided bolo tie clasped by an emerald quartz. Though Cornsilk never formally studied law, his voice bellowed with the rhetorical ire of a white-shoed seasoned litigator. “By a show of hands, how many folks here tonight are Freedmen?” Cornsilk asked into the microphone. Each raised an arm. Visibly dismayed, Cornsilk shook his head. It was a trick question. “No,” Cornsilk said. “The Freedmen died a long time ago. You are not Freedmen. You are Cherokee, and it is time that you begin to recognize who you are.”

Read more from This Land Press.

Quote of the Day

Several years ago, lawmakers slashed the budget of an agency that provided analyses of how corrections-related policy affected Oklahoma’s criminal justice system. The data didn’t sit well with those in charge, so they shot the messenger. But doing so didn’t change the data, which showed the state’s prison population ever on the rise as the result of tough-on-crime laws approved by the Legislature through the years.

-Oklahoman Editorial Board

Number of the Day

$39,160

Average annual wage in Oklahoma, 42nd lowest in the U.S. in 2012

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

See previous Numbers of the Day here.

Policy Note

Obama administration issues draft fracking regulations

The Obama administration drew sharp criticism from environmental and oil industry groups Thursday when it issued a new draft of regulations for fracking on federal and Indian lands. Environmental groups said the new draft provided weaker water protections than a version the Interior Department proposed a year ago, while oil industry groups said they wanted regulation left in the hands of states and were opposed to any federal rules. In its first update of hydraulic fracturing regulations in three decades, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management would require wider disclosure of chemicals used in drilling. It would also require that companies have a water-management plan for fluids that flow back to the surface and take steps to assure wellbore integrity and prevent toxic fluids from leaking into groundwater.

Read more from the Washington Post.

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Source:  Bureau of Labor Statistics

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:

• The New Jim Crow
• The Line
• Just the Facts
• Illegal

Today you should know that Oklahoma’s statewide average gas price surged above the national average for the first time in more than 5 years. The Cherokee Nation has approved plans to team up with four other tribes to develop a 90-turbine wind farm in Kay County. The OK Policy Blog discussed a consultant’s report on developing an Oklahoma plan for expanding health coverage, which appears to be moving Oklahoma along a path to accept federal dollars.

Kaiser Health News reports on a new Oklahoma law that could force doctors to perform painful, costly, and often futile medical interventions on disabled, elderly, or terminally ill patients if they have any chance of extending life. David Blatt’s Journal Record column explains why the Legislature’s refusal to approve any new bonds is financially irresponsible. NewsOK urged caution about using short term revenue trends to make verdicts on the effect of tax cuts.

The Tulsa World writes that funding for an Oklahoma popular culture museum is important for its economic benefits and to preserve Oklahoma history. KJRH reports that despite a recently approved bond issue for Tulsa Public Schools, education funding is still a problem in Oklahoma. The Number of the Day is the number of Oklahomans, one-third of whom have incomes below the poverty level, who will lose their state-sponsored health coverage if Oklahoma continues to refuse to comply with the Affordable Care Act. In today’s Policy Note, the Atlantic shares two maps that explode one of the biggest myths about student loans.

In The News

Oklahoma gas price surges above national average

Gasoline prices usually increase this time of year as refineries shut down temporarily to convert so they can produce cleaner-burning, summer-blend gasoline. That increase tends to be fairly uniform nationwide. This month’s run-up, however, has been sharp and regional, with prices spiking in Oklahoma and other mostly Plains states. Oklahomans typically enjoy some of the lowest-priced gasoline in the country, with a statewide average that usually ranks among the five lowest states. For the first time in more than five years, however, Oklahoma’s statewide average price is above the national average, with 29 states recording lower statewide average prices.

Read more from NewsOK.

Cherokees OK joint wind-energy project in north-central Oklahoma

The Cherokee Nation has approved plans to team up with four other tribes to develop a 90-turbine wind farm in Kay County. The five tribes will jointly operate the facility with 45 turbines on 3,000 acres of Cherokee-owned property and 45 more turbines on 3,000 acres owned by the four other tribes – the Kaw Nation, Otoe-Missouria Tribe, Pawnee Nation and Ponca Nation. The Cherokee Nation’s partner is Chicago-based PNE Wind USA Inc. Development of the wind farm will begin immediately, tribal officials said. In a news release, the Cherokee Nation says the wind farm will be the largest of its kind on tribal land in the United States.

Read more from the Tulsa World.

Leavitt or Leave It: Consultant’s report suggests path for expanding health insurance coverage

Last week saw important developments in the debate over expanding health coverage for uninsured low-income Oklahomans. While it now seems certain that Oklahoma will not expand coverage at the start of 2014, the state finally appears to be moving along a path to accept federal dollars for expanding coverage in future years. In many respects, Oklahoma is especially well-situated to take advantage of federal flexibility to design a homegrown solution that meets our needs. Since 2006, we have operated Insure Oklahoma, a successful and popular premium subsidy program that uses state and federal Medicaid dollars to allow low-income workers to buy into their employer’s private coverage.

Read more from the OK Policy Blog.

Oklahoma law reflects divide over end-of-life issues

University of Tulsa law professor Marguerite Chapman has been studying end-of-life issues in Oklahoma for three decades and has come to a conclusion: “It’s getting almost to the point that you need a government permit in order to die in this state.” Certainly, dying has gotten a lot more complicated here, the result of a unique measure passed by the Oklahoma legislature and signed into law last month by Republican Gov. Mary Fallin. Modeled after legislation written by the National Right to Life Committee, the law says that patients who are disabled, elderly or terminally ill cannot be denied life-preserving treatments if they or their health proxies want it.

Read more from Kaiser Health News.

Prosperity Policy: Bonding Bugaboo

Imagine a family that decides to pay cash to buy a car rather than accepting a loan at very low financing terms. The family then finds itself without enough money to pay for the month’s groceries or fix a broken heater. Would they be considered financially responsible? This situation is not far removed from how our state’s elected leaders addressed this year’s budget. The budget fails to include desperately needed pay raises for public safety officers and schoolteachers. It provides no funding to address the staffing crisis in our correctional facilities and barely makes a dent in the 7,000-plus-person waiting list for services for those with developmental disabilities. Yet despite historically low interest rates, lawmakers took close to $100 million out of this year’s budget to repair the state Capitol and other public buildings, and to fund information technology consolidation.

Read more from the Journal Record.

Caution urged in forecasting state revenue trends

Weather trends are often cited to support political positions, such as those either pushing a climate change agenda or opposing that agenda. It’s dangerous, though, to put too much stock in short-term temperature or precipitation trends when formulating a policy stance. The same is true of government revenue trends. We thus urge caution in jumping to conclusions about a trend toward higher state income tax collections at a time when income tax cuts are supposedly depressing revenues. Those who pushed the cuts are enthused by recent trends. They’ve said for years that total revenues increase following tax cuts, when the opposite should be true.

Read more from NewsOK.

OK OKPOP and preserve Oklahoma history

The list of Oklahomans who have made significant contributions to the arts is a long one. It would be a good idea to share those contributions with others. The proposed Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture, OKPOP, would not only preserve the state’s cultural history but would be an economic boon to both Tulsa and the state. Construction of the 75,000-square-foot, four-story building would add $13.5 million to the economy and, according to the Tulsa Regional Chamber, the museum’s first year of operation could add $17.6 million. Even if those numbers are slightly inflated, the economic impact the museum could have would be good for the city and state. As important as the economic bottom line would be, the museum’s goal is to preserve the history of popular culture, especially the contributions made by Oklahomans.

Read more from the Tulsa World.

Despite Tulsa Public Schools bond, school funding still an issue

A drop in the bucket. That’s what some say Tuesday’s $38 million bond initiative amounts to because of a larger education funding problem in Oklahoma. According to the OK Policy Institute, school funding is down by more than $220 million since 2008, an amount equivalent to laying off 5,000 teachers. The institute says recent increases by state lawmakers aren’t enough to keep up with growing enrollment. Spending per student is down $49 from last year, according to the institute.

Read more from KJRH.

Quote of the Day

It’s getting almost to the point that you need a government permit in order to die in this state.

-University of Tulsa law professor Marguerite Chapman, on a new Oklahoma law that could force doctors to perform painful, costly, and often futile medical interventions on disabled, elderly, or terminally ill patients if they have any chance of extending life

Number of the Day

30,000

The number of Oklahomans, one-third of whom have incomes below the poverty level, who will lose their state-sponsored health coverage if Oklahoma continues to refuse to comply with the Affordable Care Act

Source: Oklahoma Policy Institute

See previous Numbers of the Day here.

Policy Note

These 2 Maps About Student Loans Explode One of the Biggest Myths About Student Loans

One of the nuances that often gets lost in discussions about student debt is that the biggest borrowers aren’t necessarily the riskiest borrowers. There are many people who take out modest loans but have trouble paying them back, either because they fail to graduate or because their degree doesn’t open many doors in the job market. A statistical case-in-point: According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 17 percent of all student borrowers are 90 days delinquent on their payments, yet only 11.2 percent of all loan balances are that far behind. That gap suggests there are lots of small-time debtors in trouble these days. Looking at the geography of student borrowing teaches us a similar lesson.

Read more from The Atlantic.

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Source:  OK Policy

In November, Governor Mary Fallin announced that Oklahoma would reject federal funds under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to expand Medicaid coverage for uninsured low-income adults, even though the federal government would assume 100 percent of the cost of this population for three years and 90 percent from 2020 onwards. This decision risks leaving well over 100,000 of the poorest and unhealthiest Oklahomans without health insurance options, stuck in a ‘coverage crater’, because they earn too little to qualify for federal tax credits to purchase coverage on new health insurance marketplaces, or exchanges. Oklahoma would be leaving over $8 billion in federal Medicaid dollars on the table over the next decade, while saddling hospitals and other health care providers with mounting uncompensated care costs.

While opponents of the Affordable Care Act balked at expanding traditional Medicaid coverage to a newly-eligible population, recent developments in Arkansas showed that the federal government is willing to work with states to expand coverage in alternative and flexible ways.  The Arkansas legislature has now approved a plan that would use federal Medicaid dollars under the ACA for premium assistance to purchase commercial health insurance plans.

In many respects, Oklahoma is especially well-situated to take advantage of federal flexibility to design a homegrown solution that meets our needs. Since 2006, we have operated Insure Oklahoma, a successful and popular premium subsidy program that uses state and federal Medicaid dollars to allow low-income workers to buy into their employer’s private coverage.  The program also has an Individual Plan component that offers a modified version of Medicaid to cover workers without access to employer coverage.  The program currently covers some 30,000 Oklahomans, one-third of whom have incomes below the federal poverty level.

Insure Oklahoma operates under a federal waiver that is set to expire at the end of 2013. Last week, Oklahoma received a letter from the federal government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) stating that with implementation of the Affordable Care Act in 2014, “an extension of the Insure Oklahoma program without any changes is not possible.” In particular, CMS specified that the federal government will no longer approve enrollment caps, as currently exist in Insure Oklahoma. However, the letter expressed a clear willingness to work with Oklahoma to develop premium assistance options that would prevent those currently enrolled in the program from losing coverage:

Should the state be interested in exploring the use of premium assistance for the new adults group under the Medicaid expansion, given Oklahoma’s history of using Medicaid premium assistance to provide coverage options to Oklahomans, we would welcome working with you on such a model, consistent with our guidance.

Later in the week, a national health care consulting company, Leavitt Partners, delivered a preliminary report on an “Oklahoma Plan” to expand health insurance coverage.  Their proposal, designed to access federal Medicaid funds under the Affordable Care Act, recommends using Insure Oklahoma “as the base for a premium support program for adults up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.” It envisions maintaining both components of Insure Oklahoma: premium subsidies for commercial employer-sponsored coverage and a modified public Individual Option.  The preliminary report also sketched out a number of reforms to improve care delivery and reduce costs.

Given the work that needs to be done and the desire to engage stakeholders in the process, the Leavitt report recommends  January 2015 as a realistic time frame for launching a new program. In the meantime, it suggests exploring ways to extend Insure Oklahoma past its current December 2013 expiration date. This would require negotiating changes to comply with new federal requirements, such as lifting the program’s existing enrollment cap, prior to the date (July 15th) when the state would have to submit a phase-out plan for Insure Oklahoma to CMS.  The Oklahoma Health Care Authority believes it will be able to negotiate a program extension.

Governor Fallin, who has previously made clear that she was looking to the Leavitt Partners report to form the basis for her Oklahoma Plan, responded favorably to the group’s proposal, stating that “the recommendations… should be considered thoughtfully by Oklahoma policymakers when the final report is presented at the end of June.”

With the federal government committed to paying the full cost of expanded coverage from 2014-16 only, a one-year delay represents a missed opportunity. However, by providing a framework for expanded coverage for the uninsured that would conform to the Affordable Care Act while building on Oklahoma’s existing successes in private-public health insurance partnerships, the Leavitt Partners’ preliminary proposal sets us on the right path forward. 

Today you should know that the state’s $7.1 billion budget bill cleared the Senatate and is on its way to Gov. Fallin. The OK Policy Blog previously shared what you need to know about the state budget agreement. State revenue in April topped projections, bringing collections to about 1 percent above this time last year.

A proposed Oklahoma pop culture museum is getting more support and donations from entertainment industry stars, but it still waits for a bond issue from the Legislature. The OK Policy Blog discussed social impact bonds, a promising new approach that Oklahoma could use to fund smart on crime reforms. Voters in the Tulsa Public Schools district approved a $38 million bond issue that will provide every teacher with modern instructional technology and students with up-to-date computers. Public schools across the state would be able to “opt out” of many state mandates under a bill approved by the Oklahoma House. 

Civilians working for the U.S. Defense Department — including about 24,000 in Oklahoma — will be furloughed for 11 days beginning July 8. Multiple Oklahomans have been arrested after chaining themselves to equipment to block construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline through the state. Under threat of a lawsuit, a Muldrow high school removed 10 Commandments plaques from its classrooms. A map of hate speech on Twitter finds that it dramatically exceeds the national average in tweets coming out of Elk City and along the Oklahoma-Texas border.

The Number of the Day is the projected GDP growth over 10 years if the U.S. granted resident immigrants legal status and a pathway to citizenship. In today’s Policy Note, Wonkblog discusses new Congressional Budget Office projections that the U.S. deficit problem is solved for the next 10 years.

In The News

Senate approves $7.1 billion budget bill

The state’s $7.1 billion budget bill cleared its last legislative hurdle Tuesday and is on its way to Gov. Mary Fallin for expected final approval. The Senate voted 28-20 to pass House Bill 2301, with eight Republicans joining 12 Democrats to vote against the budget measure for the 2014 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The House of Representatives voted 59-40 last week to pass the measure. Twelve Republicans joined 28 Democrats to oppose the measure. No Democrat in either chamber voted for the bill. Most of those asking questions about the measure complained that additional money could have gone to core services.

Read more from NewsOK.

Previously: What you need to know about the state budget agreement from the OK Policy Blog.

Oklahoma pop museum gets support from stars but lacks go-ahead from Legislature

Actress Mary Kay Place lent her support — and some of her movie wardrobe — to an effort to build a pop culture museum, while the head of the Oklahoma Historical Society urged lawmakers to authorize a bond issue for the project. Bob Blackburn said Monday no additional state appropriations are needed to construct or operate the Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture in Tulsa, but the Legislature would need to support a $42.5 million bond issue for the project to move forward. He said he is concerned that a donation of land in the Brady Arts District for the OKPOP Museum and parking garage may be revoked if the bonds don’t proceed.

Read more from NewsOK.

Oklahoma’s April state revenue tops projections

State revenues for April came in about 15 percent higher than the same month a year ago, Oklahoma finance officials said Tuesday. The boost pushes revenue collections for the first 10 months of this fiscal year to about 1.1 percent higher than the estimate used to craft the 2013 fiscal year budget. As of last month, collections were just 0.4 percent higher than the official estimate. Last month, total collections for the 2013 fiscal year were 1.3 percent below the amount generated for the same period a year ago. Collections so far this fiscal year are about 1 percent above collections for the same time period last year.

Read more from NewsOK.

Social impact bonds could fund smart on crime reforms (Guest Post: John Pearson)

Social Impact bonds (SIB) are a promising new approach to government financing of social programs or social “interventions.” By combining performance-based payments and market discipline, the approach has the potential to improve results, overcome barriers to social innovation, and encourage investment in cost-saving preventive services. In Oklahoma, SIB’s could provide a funding source to provide assistance to the eight thousand plus individuals released annually by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections to transition from incarceration to becoming a successful employed neighbor.

Read more from the OK Policy Blog.

Voters approve Tulsa Public Schools technology bond issue

Voters in the Tulsa Public Schools district approved a $38 million bond issue Tuesday that will provide every teacher with modern instructional technology and students with up-to-date computers. Teachers and principals led the charge for a technology-specific proposal because most Tulsa schools lack the technology already available in nearly every suburban school. Educators worked with informational technology experts and the TPS Citizens Bond Development Committee to craft the “Smart and Secure Schools” bond, which voters passed 9,193 to 4,439.

Read more from the Tulsa World.

House approves school deregulation bill

Public schools across the state would be able to “opt out” of many state mandates under a bill approved by the Oklahoma House. The House voted 70-17 on Tuesday for the School District Empowerment Program by Dacoma Republican Rep. Jeff Hickman. The bill allows school districts to opt out of most of the state mandates that charter schools are not required to follow. Under the bill, individual school districts would first have to seek permission from the state Board of Education to be deregulated. Former Democratic Gov. Brad Henry vetoed a similar bill several years ago.

Read more from NewsOn6.

Defense Department announces 11 days of furloughs, beginning in July

Civilians working for the U.S. Defense Department — including about 24,000 in Oklahoma — will be furloughed for 11 days beginning July 8, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Tuesday. The furlough days — two per pay period — will be spread out over the last three months of the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, Hagel said at a town hall meeting with defense workers just outside Washington. Hagel, who noted that earlier furlough plans had envisioned 22 or 14 days without pay, said he and other Pentagon leaders did all they could to spare workers and their families. But, he said, the budget cuts triggered on March 1 already had sliced too deeply into training, maintenance and other defense needs.

Read more from NewsOK.

Multiple protesters arrested at Keystone XL pipeline construction site

A 60-year old Oklahoma City man was arrested Monday after he locked himself to construction equipment in protest of the Keystone XL pipeline under construction in southern Oklahoma. Bob Waldrop was jailed and later freed after posting a $250 bond. A spokesman for TransCanada, Jim Prescott, said it is another example why the company went to court last week seeking a temporary restraining order to bar protesters from the pipeline construction sites. Waldrop, as a founding member of the Oscar Romero Catholic Workers House, is a part of Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance, a growing coalition of groups and individuals dedicated to stopping the expansion of Tar Sands infrastructure throughout the Great Plains. His action follows an escalating number of work-stopping actions, of which there were five in April alone, in Oklahoma.

Read more from Oklahoma Energy Today.

Muldrow school to remove 10 Commandments plaques from classrooms

It was standing room only in the spacious Muldrow Public Schools cafeteria as hundreds of area residents crowded into a School Board meeting Monday to discuss the Ten Commandments plaques posted in each classroom for two decades. The plaques, which had been donated to the district in the early 1990s, were removed by Monday. Many attendees arrived in vehicles upon which Christian slogans were written or posted. Many wore clothing proclaiming their religious beliefs. Many teens attended, wearing black “Don’t Quit for Christ” T-shirts.

Read more from the Southwest Times Record.

Where hate speech happens

Where does hate speech happen? It turns out, it occurs most often on the eastern half of the U.S. and in rural areas of the country. Researchers created a heat map to demonstrate the frequency of hateful tweets relative to all tweets. The map shows “a comparison of places with disproportionately high amounts of a particular hate word relative to all tweeting activity.” Those areas are indicated with blue or red shading, moving from light blue to dark red as the proportion of hate speech increases. Areas with no shading indicate a lower proportion of negative tweets relative to the national average. In Oklahoma, red circles of smog appear near Elk City, and along the Texas border. Blue smog is sprinkled across the central and eastern part of the state, notably near Enid and Tulsa.

Read more from This Land Press.

Quote of the Day

I didn’t ask for it. I didn’t want my office remodeled.

-Sen. Charles Wyrick, D-Fairland, who said he found out his office would be among those that the Legislature budgeted $5 million to be renovated. Wyrick said the money should instead be spent on education.

Number of the Day

$1.4 trillion

Projected GDP growth over 10 years if the U.S. granted resident immigrants legal status and a pathway to citizenship; conversely, mass deportation and ‘zero-immigration’ enforcement policies would decrease GDP by $2.6 trillion over the same period.

Source: Immigration Policy Center, 2013

See previous Numbers of the Day here.

Policy Note

CBO says deficit problem is solved for the next 10 years

It looks like we’ve moved to talking about possible scandals just in time, because according to the Congressional Budget Office, the debt disaster that has obsessed the political class for the last three years is pretty much solved, at least for the next 10 years or so. The last time the CBO estimated our future deficits was February– just four short months ago. Back then, the CBO thought deficits were falling and health-care costs were slowing. Today, the CBO thinks deficits are falling even faster and health-care costs are slowing by even more. Here’s the short version: Washington’s most powerful budget nerds have cut their prediction for 2013 deficits by more than $200 billion. They’ve cut their projections for our deficits over the next decade by more than $600 billion. Add it all up and our 10-year deficits are looking downright manageable.

Read more from the Washington Post.

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Source: Immigration Policy Center, 2013