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In The Know is a daily synopsis of Oklahoma policy-related news and blogs. Inclusion of a story does not necessarily mean endorsement by the Oklahoma Policy Institute. You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
Today you should know that Chesapeake Energy Corp. reported a third-quarter loss of more than $2 billion due to low natural gas prices. A survey of businesses found signs that another economic slump may be developing in the Midwest and Plains states, though North Dakota and Oklahoma were expected to continue expanding due to prosperity in the energy industry.
Local ballot propositions to be decided tomorrow include a $25.1 million sales tax issue for parks in Moore, the Vision2 sales tax extension in Tulsa County, and a vote on whether to allow single-drink liquor sales on Sundays in Payne County. A new poll found that Vision2′s quality-of-life Proposition 2 appears to be headed to victory in Tuesday’s election, while the fate of Proposition 1 with its airport industrial complex upgrades and deal-closing fund is uncertain.
The Tulsa World and Okie Funk criticized backers of SQ 766 for running a misleading campaign. The OK Policy Blog showed that opponents of SQ 762 are making false claims. Janet Pearson wrote that racial discrimination still lingers in Oklahoma, despite claims by opponents of affirmative action. See more on all of the state questions at OK Policy’s 2012 State Questions page.
The New York Times wrote an editorial criticizing Oklahoma’s new open carry law. Oklahoma’s new method of grading K-12 school effectiveness has drawn criticism from OU professors. The Number of the Day is the percentage of offenders released from prison without supervision in Oklahoma in 2010. In today’s Policy Note, an infographic by the New York Times outlines all of the possible swing state paths to victory for the Obama and Romney campaigns.
In The News
Chesapeake reports $2 billion loss due to low natural gas prices
Chesapeake Energy Corp. on Thursday reported a third-quarter loss of $2.055 billion, or $3.19 a share, because of an impairment charge due to low natural gas prices. The company earned $879 million, or $1.23 a share, in the same quarter of last year. After removing one-time accounting charges, Chesapeake’s adjusted net income to stockholders for the just-completed quarter was $33 million, or 10 cents a share, which is in line with analysts’ estimates. Meanwhile, bankers apparently are not scared off by the problems facing the cash-strapped company. Chesapeake announced earlier Thursday it has received an unsecured $2 billion loan to repay some of its debts.
Survey suggests economic slump looming in midwest
Another economic slump may be developing in the Midwest and Plains states, according to a survey of business leaders released Thursday. The Mid-America Business Conditions index is based on monthly surveys of business leaders and supply managers in nine states. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth while a score below 50 suggests decline for that factor. The overall index dropped to 46.5 last month from 50.4 in September, the report said. It was 57.2 in June but fell below 50 in the following months. “Surveys over the past several months point to slightly negative growth for the next three to six months,” said Creighton University economist Ernie Goss, who oversees the survey. “However, as in (the) past months, two states with significant dependence on energy, North Dakota and Oklahoma, will continue to expand at a positive pace while the rest of the region pulls back.”
Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Some Oklahoma propositions will have big impacts, officials say
Voters in Moore, one of Oklahoma City’s fastest growing suburbs, will decide Tuesday on a $25.1 million sales tax measure for parks, one of many issues facing Oklahoma residents this election cycle. In Tulsa County, voters will have the chance to extend the Vision 2025 sales tax, which is projected to generate $748.8 million over the next two decades. Payne County voters will be asked to decide a traditionally contentious issue — whether to allow single-drink liquor sales on Sundays.
Vision2 has mixed support in Oklahoma poll
Vision2’s quality-of-life Proposition 2 appears to be headed to victory in Tuesday’s election, while the fate of Proposition 1 with its airport industrial complex upgrades and deal-closing fund is uncertain, a new Tulsa World poll shows. An Oklahoma Poll of 440 likely voters, conducted Oct. 25 to Nov. 1, indicates Proposition 2 will pass with 58 percent support, compared with 31 percent against and 11 percent undecided. Proposition 1 has 45 percent support, with 38 percent against and 17 percent undecided. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.67 percentage points. SoonerPoll.com’s Bill Shapard said it’s almost impossible to determine how undecided voters will break on issue propositions rather than living-and-breathing candidates. Meanwhile, Proposition 2’s success at the ballot box, given its numbers, looks to be a certainty, Shapard said.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
SQ 766 backers conduct misleading campaign
The Tulsa World has endorsed State Question 766, which would exempt intangible property, including such things as patents, licenses, computer software, trade names and formulas, from the ad valorem taxes paid by corporations. We stand by that endorsement – the question involves a matter of fairness – but we are disappointed that backers of SQ 766 have chosen to conduct a misleading campaign on its behalf. Recent ads featured a presumed small business operator who worries about paying taxes on intangible property and who adds that because he already pays income taxes, it would be “double taxation.” Two things wrong with that: First, every wage earner who owns a house is subject to that sort of “double taxation.” Second, SQ 766 is not aimed at mom-and-pop businesses, but at a tax inequity that involves huge statewide corporations.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: SQ 766 supporters distort impact from Okie Funk
Opponents of SQ 762 are making false claims
Oklahoma is the only state that requires the governor to approve every parole. Removing the governor from the parole process for less serious, non-violent offenses has been a recommendation of multiple major studies of Oklahoma’s criminal justice system, including a 2007 audit by MGT of America, the 2008 final report from the Oklahoma Academy Town Hall, and this year’s Justice Reinvestment initiative. Last year, Governor Fallin signed a bill into law that would have made this change. However, an attorney general’s opinion determined that it would require a constitutional change. This change was sent to a vote of the people in State Question 762.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Racial issues still linger in Oklahoma
If the evidence were strong that the work-place playing field really is level, we’d all agree there’s no need for such measures as affirmative action. But evidence suggests that’s not the case. A recent Associated Press survey found that racial attitudes “have not improved in the four years since the United States elected its first black president,” and a “slight majority of Americans now express prejudice toward African-Americans whether they recognize those feelings or not.” The survey, conducted with researchers from Stanford University, the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago, found that 51 percent of Americans “now express explicit anti-black attitudes,” compared with 48 percent in a similar 2008 survey.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: 7 Things You (Probably) Don’t Know About Affirmative Action from the OK Policy Blog
Oklahoman packing heat
Two dozen men with guns entered an Oklahoma City diner promptly at midnight on Wednesday, intent on inaugurating a pernicious new law allowing the state’s 142,000 citizens with concealed-handgun licenses to begin wearing their loaded weapons publicly. “I just feel more secure and safe,” Joe Wood, an aircraft mechanic, told The Oklahoman newspaper, his Taurus PT145 pistol ready for action against any sudden attack by the eggs and burgers. Other Oklahomans’ sense of security and safety was not on the midnight menu, though law enforcement officials made their objections clear when “open carry” was signed into law in May by Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican.
Read more from the New York Times.
New method for grading Oklahoma schools has teachers and professors outraged
Oklahoma legislature’s new method of grading school effectiveness has drawn criticism from OU professors along with other Oklahoma teachers and school superintendents. OU professors join other Oklahoma teachers and school superintendents in disagreement with the state’s new method of grading school effectiveness. The Oklahoma State Department of Education released the first school report cards that grade all Oklahoma public schools on an A-F scale on October 25, according to the Norman Transcript. The grades are based off grade-level performance standards, graduation and dropout rates and attendance rates for elementary schools, according to the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s website.
Quote of the Day
A lot of this comes down to funding; we’re testing but not investing. Now, we’re publicly printing the report cards—humiliating the schools while withholding what they need to do their jobs.
-Teresa DeBacker, associate dean of OU’s College of Education, speaking about the new A-F grades for Oklahoma schools
Number of the Day
51 percent
Percentage of offenders released from prison without supervision in Oklahoma in 2010, as opposed to probation or parole
Source: OK Policy Blog
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
512 paths to the White House
An infographic by the New York Times outlines all of the possible swing state paths to victory for the Obama and Romney campaigns.
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