By:
Steve Lewis
February 25, 2019 // Updated: February 25, 2019
The firehose effect of early session continued last week with members scrambling to get their bills heard in committee before this Thursday's deadline. By this Friday, the number of active bills will be reduced considerably. One of the big items that got the spotlight was a $1,200 teacher pay raise passed in the House and sent to the Senate.
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In our Bill Watch series, Rebecca Fine gave us an overview of bills that could have a significant impact on Oklahoma schools, and Economic Opportunity Policy Analyst Courtney Cullison highlighted the many opportunities legislators have to make Oklahomans better off economically. An op-ed by Policy Director Carly Putnam in The Oklahoman explained why federal support for health coverage expansion is a funding promise we can count on.
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This session, the Legislature will have several opportunities to improve the lives of hard-working Oklahomans and their families. Legislators have filed bills to create second chances for the justice-involved, make sure workers have paid time off to care for their own health and the health of their loved ones, and restore the full value of the Earned Income Tax Credit. All of these would be great steps toward creating an Oklahoma that appropriately values and fairly rewards the labor of its citizens.
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By:
Damion Shade
February 20, 2019 // Updated: March 29, 2019
This legislative session, leaders of both parties, the governor, the Oklahoma business community and the public at large have expressed a clear desire to work towards ending Oklahoma’s incarceration crisis. Some of these legislative initiatives build on the progress of Gov. Fallin’s Criminal Justice Task Force, but many proposals represent new attempts to lower Oklahoma’s highest-in-the-world incarceration rate.
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By:
Rebecca Fine
February 19, 2019 // Updated: February 27, 2019
Legislators filed approximately 2,800 bills this session, and about 250 of those dealt with education. This list below only touches the surface of those headed through the Legislature, but they could have considerable impact on Oklahoma's schools.
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By:
Steve Lewis
February 18, 2019 // Updated: February 18, 2019
This year's crop of bills reflects the priorities of an unusually large group of new and almost new legislators. The priorities include a willingness to work on social issues that in the past may have been overlooked.
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While school enrollment in Oklahoma has been increasing steadily over the last decade, there are 391 fewer support professionals in our schools. How Governor Stitt can use his executive powers to fix parole. Why Oklahoma's Medicaid agency should withdraw a rule to terminate health care coverage over returned mail. Issues we're watching on the budget, taxes, and health care.
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In previous years, health care legislation has often come with a sense of existential crisis, as budget cuts and efforts to take away coverage have loomed large. But this year, with a new administration and a healthier budget, lawmakers have a chance to reverse course and offer more readily accessible quality health care in Oklahoma.
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![[Image Source: U.S. Department of Education / Flickr]](https://i0.wp.com/okpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/Support-staff-pay-raise-and-restoring-cuts-is-key-to-improving-Oklahomas-schools-image.jpg?fit=375%2C248&ssl=1)
Oklahoma schools don't have enough support staff to meet needs, and their salaries are far too low averaging just $21,583 a year. While HB 1010xx gave support professionals a $1,250 pay raise, it was well short of the $5,000 they asked for. This session, education support professionals must be a bigger part of our conversations about how to better serve Oklahoma's schools.
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Gov. Stitt’s State of the State address signaled a serious desire to make criminal justice reform a signature piece of his agenda. He’s made positive comments regarding several bipartisan bills filed this legislative session aimed at stemming Oklahoma’s incarceration crisis. However, there are…
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