OKPOLICY.ORG
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.
State Sen. Clark Jolley announced Wednesday that he was pulling a piece of legislation that would have created school vouchers to use taxpayer funds for private school tuition. Public Opinion Strategies, a polling firm that found a majority of Oklahomans oppose school vouchers, responded to criticisms from Sooner Poll, which had different findings on the issue. Separate pieces of legislation calling for a US Constitutional Convention advanced through the Oklahoma Senate and House of Representatives on Wednesday. The OK Policy Blog previously discussed why a Constitutional Convention is dangerous and unnecessary.
The University of Oklahoma’s decision to expel two fraternity members who led a racist chant on a bus provoked criticism from legal experts who said the students’ words were protected by the First Amendment. A FOX Sports columnist contrasted OU’s zero tolerance response to the students with the university’s much more lenient response to a football player who assaulted a fellow student and made an anti-gay slur. Oklahoma Watch shared statistics on how blacks in Oklahoma continue to face unequal life chances in numerous areas. David Blatt’s Journal Record column discussed the legacy of children who worked to desegregate Oklahoma.
The former Muskogee County Jail superintendent and assistant superintendent were sentenced to federal prison Wednesday, more than a year after being convicted of regularly using excessive force on jail inmates and conspiring to violate their civil rights. The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs endorsed a bill (HB 2168) to remove some of Oklahoma’s job licensing bans for ex-felons. On the OK Policy Blog, we previously discussed why restricting employment for ex-felons is counterproductive and how Oklahoma puts up numerous barriers to rebuilding a life after prison. The House approved legislation (HB 1518) intended to allow judges to hand down shorter sentences for some crimes that now require mandatory minimum prison time.
A new plan from state health officials sets of goal of making Oklahoma no longer among the states with the worst health in the nation in five years. You can read the Oklahoma Health Improvement Plan 2020 here. The Oklahoma Senate voted unanimously to approve a pair of bills that would limit tax incentives for the wind energy industry. The Senate also approve sending to the voters a state question that would have the Legislature dedicate every other year exclusively to writing a state budget. A bill that creates a commission to evaluate state tax incentives won’t include oversight from the state auditor’s office, despite requests by State Auditor Gary Jones to be included. David Blatt spoke with Public Radio Tulsa about ways that Oklahoma could close its $611 million budget shortfall.
On the OK Policy Blog, we discussed how the first year of community eligibility is helping Oklahoma schools feed more kids while reducing their expenses. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation tribal council voted 12-0 for a resolution of no confidence in Chief George Tiger after a Tulsa World investigation uncovered Tiger’s secret contract with a casino developer. Amid a continuing severe drought, Lawton is moving forward with a project to dredge built up silt from the bottom of Waurika Lake that’s making what little water is left in the lake harder to access.
The Number of the Day is the percent of Oklahomans who were uninsured in 2014. In today’s Policy Note, NPR reported on why some schools serve local food while others can’t or won’t.
In The News
Legislator pulls controversial bill that would have created school vouchers
State Sen. Clark Jolley announced Wednesday that he was pulling a piece of legislation that would have created vouchers or “education savings accounts” to remit taxpayer funds to parents to pay for private school tuition. Jolley, of Edmond, had authored the controversial Senate Bill 609 with Oklahoma City State Rep. Jason Nelson, a fellow Republican. He said he needed more time to “address questions about the benefits of the school choice plan.”
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Public Opinion Strategies responds to Sooner Poll criticisms of voucher poll
The Sooner Poll recently raised some concerns about a statewide poll we recently conducted in Oklahoma. We wanted to take this opportunity to address his transparency concerns and provide some possible reasons for why the two surveys produced differing results. The interview schedule and crosstabs of the survey were made available on our website on March 9th.
Read more from The McCarville Report.
Competing bills calling for Article V constitutional convention pass state House, Senate
Separate pieces of legislation on a so-called Article V convention advanced through the Oklahoma Senate and House of Representatives on Wednesday. House Joint Resolution 1018 by Rep. Gary Banz, R-Midwest City, and Senate Joint Resolution 4 by Sen. Rob Standridge, R-Norman, would add Oklahoma to the list of states petitioning Congress for a convention under Article V of the U.S. Constitution.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: The con-con con from the OK Policy Blog.
Expulsion of Two Oklahoma Students Over Video Leads to Free Speech Debate
The University of Oklahoma’s decision to expel two fraternity members who led a racist chant on a bus provoked criticism Wednesday from several legal experts who said that the students’ words, however odious, were protected by the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech. “The courts are very clear that hateful, racist speech is protected by the First Amendment,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional scholar and dean of the law school at the University of California, Irvine.
Read more from The New York Times.
Oklahoma Stands Tall Against Racism, Weak Against Violence
Let’s start with this — I have no sympathy for racist Oklahoma fraternity members whose racist fraternity taunt went viral resulting in their fraternity being shut down, their being kicked off campus, and their likely expulsion from school. The Oklahoma football team staged a protest that was well covered and adorned with praise. Only here’s my problem with the Oklahoma football team’s stand. Less than a month ago they allowed Joe Mixon, a talented running back videotaped punching a female student in an off-campus bar, back onto the football team after a year long suspension just from the football team.
Beyond the racist chant: The facts about black inequality
Recent controversy over a racist chant at a University of Oklahoma fraternity focused attention on the state’s race relations. But the numbers beneath the headlines perhaps cast a longer shadow. By almost every metric, blacks struggle in most of the quality-of-life factors in the state. Oklahoma is first in the nation, per capita, for blacks to die at the hands of police officers among states reporting.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
Remember the children
This past weekend, the nation celebrated the 50th anniversary of the events in Selma, Alabama. President Barack Obama spoke from the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where peaceful marchers were first beaten by Alabama lawmen on Bloody Sunday and then returned to launch their successful journey to the state Capitol in Montgomery.
Read more from the Journal Record.
Former Muskogee County Jail administrators get prison time for excessive force, civil rights violations
The former Muskogee County Jail superintendent and assistant superintendent were sentenced to federal prison Wednesday, more than a year after being convicted of regularly using excessive force on jail inmates and conspiring to violate their civil rights, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. Ex-Superintendent Raymond Barnes, 44, and former Assistant Superintendent Christopher Brown, 33, were accused of hitting or otherwise physically punishing Muskogee County Jail inmates who were “restrained, compliant and not posing a physical threat.”
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Licensing reform key to corrections reform
One of the key changes being implemented by multiple states in corrections policy are reforms to state licensing. As the Institute for Justice has noted, even for law abiding-citizens state licensing requirements can present a significant hurdle to those trying to work and provide for their families. Often, state licenses for occupations allow broad prohibitions for licensure of anyone who has committed a felony, including in Oklahoma.
Read more from the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs.
See also: Get a job: Why restricting employment for ex-felons is counterproductive and Every sentence is a life sentence: 3 barriers to life after prison from the OK Policy Blog.
Oklahoma House passes bills to give judges more discretion in sentencing
The Oklahoma House on Wednesday approved a key piece of justice reform legislation intended to help reduce the state’s growing population of prison inmates. Rep. Pam Peterson’s House Bill 1518 would give judges the authority to hand down shorter sentences for some crimes that now require mandatory minimum prison time.
What does the future hold for Oklahoma’s health?
In five years, Oklahoma no longer will be among the states with the worst health the nation. “That’s a big statement,” state Health Commissioner Terry Cline said Tuesday. “I’m confident we can do it, and I’m saying it — while it’s being recorded. We can move out of the bottom 10.” Cline stood Tuesday before a group of state and tribal leaders, stressing the changes Oklahoma could see if leaders take the initiative and embrace the recommendations set forth in the latest version of Oklahoma Health Improvement Plan.
Read the OHIP 2020 report here.
Oklahoma Senate Unanimously Approves Bills Limiting Wind Industry Tax Incentives
The Oklahoma Senate on Tuesday voted 45-0 to approve a pair of bills that would limit tax incentives for the wind energy industry. Both measures were authored by Sen. Mike Mazzei, R-Tulsa. Senate Bill 498 modifies an ad-valorem tax exemption for manufacturing used by wind companies; SB 501 establishes a five-year step-down for zero emission tax credits and sets a $6 million annual cap statewide.
Read more from StateImpact Oklahoma.
See also: The wind energy debate comes sweeping down to the Capitol from the OK Policy Blog.
Senate Votes For Budget-Only Sessions Proposal
The Oklahoma Legislature would dedicate every other year to exclusively writing a state budget under a proposed constitutional amendment approved by the state Senate. The Senate voted 36-10 for the measure Wednesday and sent it to the House for consideration. A similar measure died last month in a House committee.
Bill Excludes Auditor’s Office From Tax Incentive Review
A bill that creates a commission to evaluate state tax incentives won’t include oversight from the state auditor’s office, Speaker of House Jeff Hickman said Wednesday. Authored by Hickman, R-Fairview, House Bill 2182 would add a new level of oversight to Oklahoma’s tax incentive system. The bill would create a seven-member Incentive Evaluation Commission charged with reviewing incentives every four years.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
This new school meals program helps high-poverty kids and schools
Last spring, we reported on a powerful new tool to fight hunger in high-poverty schools. Community Eligibility, part of 2010’s Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, allows certain high-poverty schools, groups of schools, or school districts to offer breakfast and lunch to all students free of charge. Recently, we with talked the Nutrition Services Directors at Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS) and Shawnee Public Schools (SPS), to hear about their first year of community eligibility.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
David Blatt of the Oklahoma Policy Institute on How Our State Can Redress Its Vast Budget Gap
As our state’s newly inaugurated legislative session continues, there’s been no shortage of bills that’ve attracted attention from the national media — for less than favorable reasons. What we have not seen — not yet, anyway — is a responsible discussion of how to fill a $611 million shortfall in next year’s budget. Our guest is David Blatt, executive director of the nonprofit, non-partisan Oklahoma Policy Institute, which has recently put forth a number of suggestions on how the Sooner State can take steps to fix this mammoth funding gap.
Hear more from Public Radio Tulsa.
Creek tribal council votes 12-0 to ask Chief George Tiger to resign
Muscogee (Creek) Nation Chief George Tiger remained mum Wednesday as tribal council members prepared a letter asking him to resign due to his secret contract with a casino developer, which was revealed in a Tulsa World investigation. The tribal council held an emergency session Tuesday night and voted 12-0 for a resolution of no confidence in Tiger.
Read more from the Broken Arrow World.
Lawton to Dredge Waurika Lake in Latest Attempt to Combat Drought
Lawton is pulling out all the stops in its battle with the ongoing drought in western Oklahoma. Last week, StateImpact reported on the city’s plan to create more rain through cloud-seeding. Now Lawton is moving forward with a project to dredge built up silt from the bottom of Waurika Lake that’s clogging pumps and making what little water is left in the lake harder to access.
Quote of the Day
“One of the primary causes for recidivism is the inability of offenders to find consistent work to provide for themselves and their families. This burdensome and damaging approach also undermines corrections efforts paid for by taxpayers. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections and other non-profit entities assist offenders with occupational training while in prison. Offenders are prevented from ever being able to receive a license from some of the very occupations that inmates receive training for in prison!”
-Jonathan Small of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, writing in support of HB 2168, which would remove some job licensing restrictions for those with felony convictions not substantially related to the occupation (Source)
Number of the Day
18.50%
Percent uninsured in Oklahoma in 2014.
Source: Gallup.
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Why Some Schools Serve Local Food And Others Can’t (Or Won’t)
For many years, if a public school district wanted to serve students apples or milk from local farmers, it could face all kinds of hurdles. Schools were locked into strict contracts with distributors, few of whom saw any reason to start bringing in local products. Those contracts also often precluded schools from working directly with local farmers. But buying local got easier with federal legislation in 2008, and then again in 2010, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture created the Farm to School program to get more healthful food in schools and link smaller U.S. farmers with a steady market of lunch rooms.
You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
