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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.
Gov. Mary Fallin on Friday signed a measure adding nitrogen gas to the list of execution methods. The Legislature passed a measure to allow nonviolent felons on probation to obtain a commercial driver’s license. Restrictions on driver’s licenses is just one of many barriers that Oklahoma puts up for Oklahomans with a felony record. On the OK Policy Blog, Steve Lewis discussed how the action is shifting to conference committees in the final third of the Legislative session.
University of Oklahoma economist Robert Dauffenbach said Oklahoma’s two largest metropolitan areas are well positioned to wade through the oil and gas industry slowdown, and Oklahoma is much less dependent on the industry than in the 1980s. Three bills remain alive in the Legislature that could take away local control over oil and gas drilling from cities and counties. Undocumented immigrants living in Oklahoma pay about $76 million in state and local taxes, according to a report issued this week by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. You can read the full report here.
The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office gave no advance warning to the busy neighborhood store where it set up a sting operation that resulted in the shooting death of Eric Harris, nor the elementary school to the south where kids were playing outside. Protesters took to Tulsa streets again Friday evening, this time asking the Tulsa County Sheriff to fire two deputies. The Tulsa Voice shared an interview with an attorney who is suing the Tulsa County Sheriff on behalf of Eric Harris’s family. Training records do not show that Tulsa County Reserve Deputy Robert Bates qualified on a revolver he carried during the fatal shooting, and his gun was not on the list of firearms deputies can carry on duty. Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel said he can’t envision his department without volunteer deputies operating as law enforcement officers.
Tulsa County’s immunization rate for 2014 is below the state and national averages and falls well short of the state’s goal for 2020. Gov. Mary Fallin has nominated Robert J. “Bob” Ross, president and CEO of the Inasmuch Foundation and the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, to a seat on the Oklahoma State Board of Education. After months of fighting for racial equality on campus, OU students with the group OU Unheard will receive receive the Angie Debo Civil Liberties Award from the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma.
The Number of the Day is 23 percent – the percentage of the state population potentially exposed to water exceeding a contaminant limit in 2013-2014. In today’s Policy Note, the Washington Post shows that states refusing to accept federal funds for Medicaid expansion are leaving hundreds of thousands of mentally ill adults untreated.
In The News
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signs bill adding nitrogen gas as state execution method
Gov. Mary Fallin on Friday signed a measure adding nitrogen gas to the list of execution methods. House Bill 1879 was filed after last year’s execution of Clayton Lockett using a new, three-drug protocol following difficulties in obtaining one of the original drugs. HB 1879 says that if lethal injection is held unconstitutional or is unavailable, an execution shall be carried out by nitrogen hypoxia. Electrocution and firing squad are also other alternatives should nitrogen gas not be available or held unconstitutional.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Hickman’s Anti-Recidivism Bill Goes To Fallin
The Oklahoma Senate passed a measure, authored by Speaker Jeffrey W. Hickman, which seeks to reduce criminal recidivism by allowing nonviolent offenders to have greater ability to reenter the workforce and become productive citizens. House Bill 2179 would change current law to allow nonviolent offenders who are on probation to obtain a commercial driver’s license, thus increasing their marketability to employers during that probation time-period.
See also: Every sentence is a life sentence: 3 barriers to life after prison from the OK Policy Blog.
With session two-thirds finished, focus shifts at Legislature
Now that the standing committee work is completed for the 2015 session, the House will be taking floor action on Senate Bills and the Senate will be acting on House bills for the next couple of weeks. Bills that survive the next two weeks will go on to the governor if they were passed in both houses in the same form. If a bill is amended it will return to its house of origin where the author will have the option of moving to accept the amendments and send the bill to the governor or rejecting the amendments and asking for a conference committee.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: 2015 Oklahoma Legislative Primer from OK Policy.
Oil industry decline to affect rural Oklahoma more than metro areas
Despite tumbling oil prices, Oklahoma’s two largest metropolitan areas are well positioned to wade through the industry slowdown, University of Oklahoma economist Robert Dauffenbach said Thursday. In the early 1980s, one in six Oklahomans was directly employed by the energy industry. Today, that number has dropped to one in 28, Dauffenbach said. While the oil patch still supports many jobs in other industry sectors, including transportation and manufacturing, the influence is much smaller than three decades ago, he said.
Bills could take away local rights to regulate drilling
Three bills remain that could impact how much control cities and counties have over oil and gas activity within their boundaries. Similar pieces of legislation, H.B. 2178 authored by Speaker of the House Jeff Hickman and S.B. 809 sponsored Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman limit the areas municipalities have the ability to govern related to oil and gas activity to varying degrees. The bills place all control except basic zoning functions such as setbacks and noise abatement with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.
Read more from the Stillwater News-Press.
Undocumented immigrants pay billions in state and local taxes, report finds
Undocumented immigrants living in Oklahoma pay about $76 million in state and local taxes, according to a report issued this week by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The report finds that the 11.4 million undocumented immigrants estimated to be living in the U.S. paid about $11.8 billion in state and local taxes in 2012.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Officials: Business and elementary school at site of Tulsa County Sheriff’s sting gone wrong never warned
The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office gave no advance warning to the busy neighborhood store where it set up a sting operation with a known gun and drug dealer, nor the elementary school to the south where kids were playing outside. Mid-morning on April 2, an undercover gun buy in the parking lot of the Dollar General at 1906 N. Harvard Ave. — a store with a steady flow of pedestrian and car traffic — ended in a short foot pursuit.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Protesters Call For Tulsa County Deputies’ Jobs
Protesters took to Tulsa streets again Friday evening, this time they asked the Tulsa County Sheriff to fire two deputies. They yelled, “Bless my breath,” in reference to what was said in the video of Eric Harris’s shooting. The protesters were upset that there hasn’t been any apology or plan of action from the sheriff. Protesters called for the termination of Tulsa County Sheriff’s deputies, Joseph Byars and Michael Huckeby, who held Harris down after he was shot.
See also: Interview with attorney Dan Smolen, who is representing Eric Harris’s family in a lawsuit against the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Department from The Tulsa Voice
Deputy’s gun not on approved list or qualifying logs
Training records released Saturday do not show that Tulsa County Reserve Deputy Robert Bates qualified on a revolver he carried during a fatal shooting and his gun was not on the list of firearms deputies can carry on duty. New training records for Bates surfaced Saturday, when his attorney gave 65 pages of records to national media outlets.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma County sheriff says reserve deputies are essential to department
Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel can’t envision his department without reserve deputies. In civilian life, the nearly 200 volunteers run the gamut, from construction workers and lawyers to doctors and insurance salesmen. On duty, they are armed and indistinguishable from the department’s 243 full-time, fully trained deputies.
Tulsa County immunization rate well below state goal
Tulsa County’s immunization rate for 2014 is below the state and national averages and falls well short of the state’s goal for 2020, according to records from the Oklahoma State Immunization Information System. The rate of 62.12 percent is for Tulsa County children ages 19 months to 35 months who get the full recommended set of vaccines, which includes protection against tetanus, diptheria, measles, mumps, chicken pox, polio and pertussis among other diseases.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Governor names new state board of education member
Gov. Mary Fallin announced Friday the nomination of Robert J. “Bob” Ross to a seat on the Oklahoma State Board of Education vacated last month by Bill Shdeed. The governor’s nomination of Ross, of Oklahoma City, would require confirmation by the state Senate. Ross is president and CEO of the Inasmuch Foundation and the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
OU Unheard to receive Angie Debo Civil Liberties Award
After months of fighting for equality on campus, OU students will receive high honors from a group committed to promoting rights granted by the U.S. and Oklahoma constitutions. OU Unheard, a black student alliance, will receive the Angie Debo Civil Liberties Award, the most prestigious award given by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma at noon Saturday at the OU College of Law, according to the organization’s web page.
Read more from The Oklahoma Daily.
Quote of the Day
“‘Ferguson’ happens all the time—a lot more than it gets covered. That’s a strong African American community that has a very loud voice. I wish the African American community in Tulsa had a stronger voice. But their voice has been systematically shut down for years.
– Tulsa attorney Dan Smolen, who is representing the family of Eric Harris in a suit against the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Department (Source)
Number of the Day
23%
Percent of the state population potentially exposed to water exceeding a contaminant limit in 2013-2014. The US median was 1%.
Source: 2015 County Health Rankings.
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
These states leave the most mentally ill adults untreated. Guess what else they have in common.
The politics of Obamacare have produced a geographic divide in mental health care. Uninsured, low-income Americans in the east, mid-Atlantic and Pacific are receiving more treatment through the Medicaid expansion, while those in the south and central U.S. are not, according to a new report. Nearly 568,000 uninsured people who have been diagnosed with a serious mental health condition would have received treatment in 2014 if their states had chosen to expand Medicaid, according to the American Mental Health Counselors Association, a professional organization that does advocacy and education.
Read more from The Washington Post.
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