Quotes of the Day

“[Ending the ACA] would wreak havoc in our health care system. And we don’t believe Americans are ready to see that their children are no longer able to see a doctor or that they cannot get treated for a preexisting health condition.”

– Xavier Becerra, Attorney General of California, on the consequences of Texas’ lawsuit seeking to have the entire Affordable Care Act declared unconstitutional [Kaiser Health News]

“I think Oklahoma is in a crisis they don’t realize they’re in. They seem to think that the opioid addiction is still something that’s out in other places. It’s not. It’s here.” 

-U.S. Senator James Lankford, in Killing Pain, a new documentary on the opioid crisis in Oklahoma. [NewsOK]

“They are all very interested in ensuring that the program works correctly and that it’s the best program we can build for the state. The ones we’ve spoken to have an open mind. I think they’re not buying the reefer madness propaganda. I think we have full faith that they will implement the legislation that we envisioned for 788.”

-Frank Grove, co-leader of Oklahomans for Cannabis, speaking about his interactions with the medical marijuana legislative working group [Tulsa World]

While the budget has been stabilized, there’s still a great distance to climb before we are out of the hole created by a decade of cuts and shortfalls.

-David Blatt, OK Policy Executive Director. [Journal Record]

“I think there’s a pretty clear message that the ‘Yes’ vote on HB 1010 was the right vote, but I think we need to keep moving the state forward. I think that tells us what I’ve been saying for a while, which is that the people wanted solutions.”

– House Floor Leader Jon Echols (R-OKC) on last night’s runoff results. Of the 10 House Republican incumbents in runoffs yesterday, the three who voted in favor of the teacher pay raise kept their seats, while six of the seven who voted against the measure were defeated [NonDoc]

“We are starting to see the effects of the teacher shortage and it is scary since we are so close to OSU. Teacher raises should help increase the number of applicants but may take some time to realize the progress. All professions pay top dollar to attract what they feel is the very best so why shouldn’t education try to do the same?”

– Morrison Public Schools Superintendent Jay Vernon [CNHI]

“I see hard-working individuals and families every day whose lives will be upended by this policy, which is ill-conceived at best and intentionally punitive at worst. Rather than insulting the dignity of SoonerCare members, the governor and Legislature should be trying to strengthen our education and health care systems, as well as build an economy that works for all Oklahomans.”

-Scott Melson, M.D., in an op-ed voicing his concern with Oklahoma’s proposal to cut Medicaid for parents who don’t meet a work requirement [NewsOK]

“Native American people in Oklahoma don’t look just like me. Native American people in Oklahoma are white, black and Hispanic. So the idea that by opening a Native American school we’re segregating kids from other races, kind of misunderstands what it is to be indigenous in this country.”

-Phil Gover, the founder of the recently approved Sovereign Community School in Oklahoma City which will will teach Native American history and incorporate a native perspective in all areas of curriculum [Fox 25]

“We are the safety net for the state. It would be ideal if funding were available so we could see people before they get sick. Our mental health system says, ‘No, let’s wait until you’re as sick as you can be.’ That’s backwards.”

-Joy Sloan, the CEO of Green Country Behavioral Health Services, which she said due to years of state budget cuts has had to turn patients away until they’re facing a full mental health crisis [The Frontier]

“We are now experiencing the full weight of a crisis we have been warning of for the past three years. It is no surprise, and our children have paid the price of years of inaction which cannot be immediately reversed.”

-State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, speaking about a new surge of emergency teacher certification requests from districts desperate to fill classroom vacancies [Tulsa World]