Quotes of the Day

“Frankly, I don’t know what’s going to happen to the people they stop serving, and that’s my biggest concern. I’m very interested to find out what the department’s plan is to do with these people when the providers can’t serve them, because there’s no place else for them to go now, nor would we want them to go back to the institutions.”

– Judith Goodwin, executive director of Oklahoma Community-Based Providers, which represents 60 agencies which serve 6,000 to 10,000 clients, speaking about a 3.5 percent provider reimbursement rate cut. Care providers have warned that they will have to cut wages and stop providing some services, leaving some Oklahomans with disabilities without a source of needed care (Source)

“I think it would be crazy to think that (the initiative) did not have something to do with that.”

– Jerod Shadid, an associate planner with the Oklahoma City Planning Department, on a new report that shows veteran homelessness declined by nearly 30 percent over the last year. Oklahoma City and several advocacy groups are in the midst of a push to end veteran homelessness  (Source)

“Earlier this year, our state legislators had the opportunity to remove or decrease a number of these tests. We encouraged them to do just that. We even rallied at the State Capitol to make certain they heard us. They chose not to listen.”

– State PTA President Jeffery Corbett, speaking about a resolution the group will consider later this week to boycott non-federally mandated high-stakes tests (Source)

“Obviously teacher pay is not where it should be in Oklahoma. And when you’re talking about not being able to give someone an increase for the work that they do, you have to find other ways to make the job worthwhile.”

-Locust Grove Public Schools superintendent Lori Helton, explaining why the district is moving to a four-day school week next year (Source).

“Certainly, my stress levels or what I will be stressing about are going to change significantly with this change. The main factors were all factors that I take home at the end of the day: the stress and the sheer number of hours. I want my kids to remember more about me than, ‘My dad worked hard and studies earthquakes.'”

-Oklahoma state seismologist Austin Holland, who is leaving the state to join the U.S. Geological Survey in New Mexico. Holland said low staffing levels at the Oklahoma Geological Survey and the rapid increase in earthquakes had him working 80 hours per week (Source).

“We can’t have a barbershop or a beauty salon in a residential area, but now we’re supposed to allow oil wells.”

-McAlester Mayor Steve Harrison, who said the city doesn’t plan to change the ban on drilling in city limits it has had since 1974, despite a new state law disallowing such bans (Source)

“The biggest problem is that many people being turned away at the early stages develop worse problems, resulting in more costly care — or in some cases prison sentences — later. It’s a tough spot to be in, but one that doesn’t have an easy answer beyond more money. Until state leaders put more emphasis on treating mental illnesses, we see this as a continuing issue in our state.”

-The Oklahoman editorial board, writing about how a growing number of Oklahomans are in need of mental health treatment while state funding for treatment has been slashed (Source).

“There are plenty of businesses out there who do right by their employees and pay a living wage. This will actually create a more level playing field for those companies because they’ll no longer be at a disadvantage to competitors who get labor at poverty wages.”

-Oklahoma Policy Institute’s Policy Director Gene Perry, speaking about President Obama’s proposal to expand the number of employees eligible to earn overtime pay for working more than 40 hours per week. The proposed Department of Labor rule would increase the income threshold for overtime eligibility from $23,660 to $50,440 (Source).

“Tuition and fee hikes for Oklahoma’s public colleges and universities are becoming a habit — a habit only the Legislature, through adequate funding, could break.”

-The Tulsa World editorial board, who wrote that state funding cuts and the resulting tuition increases are hurting Oklahoma’s efforts to increase the number with college degrees (Source).

“The governor’s office is as guilty as the Legislature of pre-empting our ability to run the city as we have for years. You would hope that people in the Legislature would try to make our job easier and better for the citizens of Oklahoma City rather than the special interests that seem to control their votes with regard to pre-emption.”

-Oklahoma City Councilman Pete White, speaking about a growing number of state laws that prevent municipal officials from determining what goes on in their cities (Source)