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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.
State Rep. Mike Shelton (D-Oklahoma City) said he intends to introduce legislation next year that would raise the subminimum wage for service-sector employees whose meager salaries are supplemented with tips. The OK Policy Blog discussed how the Legislature picked winners and losers when deciding which state employees got a raise this year. The Oklahoma Transportation Commission adopted a $6.3 billion, eight-year work plan for Oklahoma’s highways and bridges, including replacing the bridge between Lexington and Purcell that was shut down for months after cracks were discovered.
Oklahoma’s Corrections Director said the agency plans to complete an overhaul of the state’s execution protocol and a “major reconstruction” of the death chamber before the state’s next scheduled execution in November. The State Supreme Court upheld a one-year suspension of an OU football player who had been accused of sexual assault. The student’s suspension had previously been thrown out by a Cleveland County judge. Grand River Dam Authority directors publicly endorsed Chief Executive Officer Dan Sullivan, despite a sexual harassment complaint against him that was settled for $223,000.
The Noble Public Schools superintendent was fired after she gained national attention for referring to some girls at the school as “skanks” and making them bend over to see if their skirts were too short. Overcrowding is a growing problem at south side Oklahoma City schools, and officials have added 52 portable classrooms at a cost of nearly $3 million. The Oklahoma Supreme Court declined to review a decades-old telephone case tainted by corruption at the Corporation Commission.
Oklahoma and 16 other states urged the U.S. Supreme Court to use cases from Oklahoma and Utah to resolve the issue of whether states can ban same-sex marriage. Oklahoma and nine other states have requested help from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate a virus that has sent hundreds of children to hospitals in Missouri. The Number of the Day is the average cost of attendance for an Oklahoma resident, on campus, full-time student at the state’s research universities. In today’s Policy Note, the Moneybox blog discusses how a series of fast food walkouts around the country have been successful at spearheading a broader living wage movement.
In The News
OKC legislator proposes to raise subminimum wage
State Rep. Mike Shelton said Monday he intends to introduce legislation next year that would raise the subminimum wage for service-sector employees whose meager salaries are supplemented with tips. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, workers younger than 20, workers who earn tips, and some other categories of employees, can legally be paid below-minimum hourly wages, Shelton related. Any employer whose workers receive tips is required to pay a minimum wage of $2.13 per hour, provided that amount plus the tips received by those workers equals at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour. That equates to $290 per week for a full-time, 40-hour employee. Shelton, D-Oklahoma City, proposes to raise the subminimum wage from $2.13 per hour to $4.25 an hour over a three-year period: 62 cents per hour the first year, then 75 cents each of the next two years.
Read more from the Okemah News Leader.
Raise your hand if you got a raise
For some 12,000 state employees, the long wait for a pay raise has finally ended. Legislation passed this last session provided selected workers a raise of 6.25 percent or more, effective July 1 (or in the case of state troopers, January 1). But with legislators appropriating significantly less than what an expert study recommended to move the state towards more competitive compensation, a majority of state employees were left out of this year’s pay raise plan. Legislators also decided to pick and choose which positions received raises without much input from the agencies involved.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Oklahoma’s eight-year transportation plan targets deficient bridges
Work to replace the beleaguered Purcell-Lexington bridge has been moved up to fiscal year 2018 under an ambitious eight-year work plan adopted Monday by the Oklahoma Transportation Commission. The eight-year plan includes 1,947 projects that are expected to cost about $6.3 billion. The list includes 935 bridge projects, 725 miles of major improvements to high-volume highways and interstates, and 743 miles of shoulder and other improvements to two-lane highways. But perhaps no project will be more closely watched than replacement of the bridge over the Canadian River between Lexington and Purcell on U.S. 77/State Highway 39.
Corrections director says agency plans to be ready for next execution
Oklahoma’s prison system plans to be ready for three upcoming executions, with an overhaul of the state’s protocol and a “major reconstruction” of the death chamber. Monday’s news conference marked the first time Department of Corrections Director Robert Patton has publicly addressed what went wrong since April 29, the night Clayton Lockett’s execution went awry at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. A state investigation released last week cited problems with the IV that was supposed to deliver the lethal drugs as “the single greatest factor” behind problems during the 43-minute execution. There was also no backup plan if things went wrong, the report states.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
OU football player suspension upheld by Oklahoma Supreme Court
After more than two months of fighting in court, the University of Oklahoma will be allowed to enforce its one-year suspension of junior linebacker Frank Shannon following an Oklahoma State Supreme Court ruling Monday. The state’s highest court ruled that Cleveland County District Judge Tracy Schumacher did not have the jurisdiction to rule on the Shannon case, and should not have issued a stay allowing him to remain enrolled at the university and part of the football team after he was found to have violated the school’s Title IX sexual misconduct policy. As first reported by The Oklahoman in April, a female student alleged that Shannon sexually assaulted her at his off-campus apartment in late January.
Grand River Dam board gives CEO Dan Sullivan vote of confidence, despite sexual harassment settlement
Grand River Dam Authority directors publicly endorsed Chief Executive Officer Dan Sullivan on Monday but took no other action after meeting in executive session to discuss his salary. Monday’s board endorsement comes as GRDA prepares to sell about $440 million in bonds, and in the wake of a $223,000 settlement stemming from a sexual harassment allegation against Sullivan. No action, disciplinary or otherwise, appears to have been taken in a matter that resulted in the payment of $223,000 in ratepayer funds.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Noble superintendent fired after dress code controversy
An Oklahoma superintendent was fired after a dress code controversy gained national attention. According to an attorney, in a 4 to 0 vote, Noble school board members decided to terminate Ronda Bass’ employment Monday night. Last week, the board had voted the superintendent could keep her job if she followed a professional development plan. The board had called a special meeting last Tuesday to discuss her employment after many angry calls from parents over the way Bass had enforced the dress code at the beginning of the school year. They say Bass referred to some of the girls as ‘skanks’ and made them bend over to see if their skirts and shorts were too short.
Oklahoma City schools add portable classrooms to deal with overcrowding
For two years, art and music classes at Linwood Elementary School have been taught inside the cafeteria while two fourth-grade classes have been combined because of overcrowding. Still, Principal Susan Combs is a bit conflicted when it comes to having four new portable classrooms on campus. “We’ve kind gotten used to it,” she said Monday of teachers who have worked together to overcome the inconvenience. “Now, don’t get me wrong, we’re thrilled to be out of there and I know they are, too.” Overcrowding at schools in the Oklahoma City district — most of it on the city’s south side — is a growing problem, one officials have chosen to address on a temporary basis by adding 52 portable classrooms at a cost of nearly $3 million.
Oklahoma Supreme Court declines to reopen telephone case tainted by corruption
The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a decades-old telephone case tainted by corruption at the Corporation Commission. In a 7-0 vote, the justices stopped a class-action lawsuit brought by former customers of Southwestern Bell. Attorneys for the plaintiffs wanted the Supreme Court to set aside its 1991 decision forbidding review of a Corporation Commission case decided in 1989. The Corporation Commission case centered on how Southwestern Bell should treat a $30 million windfall created by a change in federal tax laws. Commissioners decided 2-1 to let the phone company reinvest the money. That vote was called into question by later revelations of bribery involving a commissioner and an attorney working on behalf of Southwestern Bell.
Oklahoma, 16 other states urge U.S. Supreme Court to rule on same-sex marriage
Oklahoma and 16 other states urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to use cases from Oklahoma and Utah to resolve the issue of whether states can ban same-sex marriage without violating the U.S. Constitution. A brief filed by Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt and 16 of his colleagues, most of whom are Republicans, argues that lawsuits in the 31 states that ban same-sex marriage present a “compelling need” for the nation’s highest court to make a definitive ruling. The Oklahoma and Utah cases are now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, along with a very similar case from Virginia. Justices may decide as early as next month whether to review one or more of the cases.
Oklahoma asks CDC for help investigating virus that’s causing alarm in Midwest
A respiratory virus that has sent hundreds of children to hospitals in Missouri is causing alarm across the Midwest and beyond. Ten states have contacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for help investigating clusters of the virus that’s being blamed for the illness — Colorado, North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Kentucky. Health officials say they’re still figuring out what’s going on. The bug that appears to be causing most of the concern has a typically arcane name — Enterovirus EV-D68 — but many of its symptoms are very common.
Quote of the Day
“Twenty years ago two-thirds of teenagers had a driver’s license by the age of 18; today only half do. Identity found in car ownership and the mobility it provides is being replaced by technology. Many millennials now see vehicle ownership as a burden. While they still seek mobility and access to the places they love, their mode of arrival is no longer one-dimensional.”
-James Wagner, principal transportation planner for the Indian Nations Council of Governments, writing that Oklahoma cities need better transit options and walkability to compete for the next generation (Source: http://bit.ly/1CNlByV)
Number of the Day
$17,274.47
Average cost of attendance for an Oklahoma resident, on campus, full-time student at the state’s research universities, FY 2015.
Source: Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
The fast food strikes have been a stunning success for organized labor
For the seventh time in nearly two years, fast food workers around the country walked out of their restaurants last week to demand a pay raise to $15 per hour and the right to unionize. In New York City, 21 workers were arrested for sitting in the middle of the street outside the McDonald’s in Times Square. Organizers said more than 50 protestors were arrested for similar acts of civil disobedience in Detroit. Another 50 were detained in Chicago. And so the most interesting—and most successful—American labor push in recent memory rolls on.
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