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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.
Today you should know that the ACLU of Oklahoma called for an investigation of a drug task force in Caddo County that allows a private company to make drug stops of motorists for a share of the profits from property seizures. Rep. Aaron Stiles said the state should impose a more uniform standard for making court records publicly available online. The Oklahoman editorial board writes that Oklahoma’s rising prison population is going in the wrong direction. This Land Press summarized recent reporting on Oklahoma’s growth in incarceration and private prisons.
The Tahlequah Daily Press discussed how thousands of Oklahomans may be stuck with no way to pay medical bills if Oklahoma does not take action to preserve and expand Insure Oklahoma. Dr. Katherine Scheirman wrote in CapitolBeatOK about how the Affordable Care Act will empower Oklahomans. Fox 25 reported that an MIT Living Wage calculator shows that Oklahomans can’t survive on minimum wage. The OK Policy Blog discussed how calculations of how much income it takes to make ends meet reveal why many hard-working families still need a boost in today’s economy.
A study by Americans for the Arts found that non-profit arts groups create more than 10,000 jobs in Oklahoma. A Tulsa Union school has been chose as one of 44 schools nationwide to participate in a pilot program that will bring new rigorous STEM curriculum into elementary classrooms. The Number of the Day is the percentage of full-time, year-round Oklahoma workers with health insurance reporting ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ health, versus just 58.0% for those without insurance. In today’s Policy Note, the Economic Policy Institute shared ten charts that illustrate points made in President Obama’s recent speech about the state of the economy.
In The News
ACLU seeks investigation of Okla. drug task force contractors impersonating officers
The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma on Monday called for an investigation of a drug task force in Caddo County that uses a private contracting company to help run drug stops of motorists on Interstate 40. The ACLU asked the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to launch an investigation and also called for charges to be filed against contractors from Desert Snow LLC, who the organization said appear to be impersonating police officers in violation of state law.
Read more here from the Associated Press.
Okla. legislator frustrated with court open records procedures
A state lawmaker frustrated by the Oklahoma court system’s hodgepodge of procedures for making court records publicly available online plans to explore whether the state should impose a more uniform standard. Rep. Aaron Stiles, a Norman attorney and vice chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said court clerks in 77 counties across the state have different policies for what court documents they scan and make available online. Attorneys, reporters and members of the public are often forced to drive to courthouses across the state and pay for paper copies when that information should be — and often is — already available electronically.
Read more from the Associated Press.
On prison count, Oklahoma headed in wrong direction
The number of men and women in U.S. prisons declined in 2012 for the third straight year — no thanks to Oklahoma. While inmate counts are falling nationwide, they continue to climb in the Sooner State. A report last week from the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics said the 1.5 million people in prison last year represented a drop of 27,770 from the previous year. Federal prisons saw an increase in their population, but state prison counts fell by nearly 30,000.
Oklahoma’s incarceration rate is fourth in the nation
Oklahoma fills its prisons at an alarming rate. On 24/7 Wall St.’s list of “states sending the most people to prison,” Oklahoma ranks No. 4, just behind Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Oklahoma incarcerates 648 per 100,000 residents, according to the list. Oklahoma ranks 17th for the number of sentenced prisoners, at 24,830. Our violent crime rate is the 11th highest in the country, and our poverty rate ranks 16th.
Read more from This Land Press.
Thousands to be caught in insurance gap
Tonya Sappington worked at a variety of jobs before starting college in 2010. Sappington, 43, relies solely on financial aid to attend school, and worries that should she become ill, she would have no way to pay her medical bills. She is one of about 9,000 Oklahomans who will fall into the “insurance crater” at the end of the year, when the federal government ceases to fund its portion of Insure Oklahoma.
Read more from the Tahlequah Daily Press.
ACA will empower people
Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, for the first time ever, many people who have been unable to get high quality, low-cost health insurance will soon be able to do so. Thanks to a lot of misinformation, though, the very people who stand to benefit the most, and who may qualify for financial assistance, don’t even know about this opportunity. This might even be you or someone you know.
MIT Living Wage Calculator shows Oklahomans can’t survive on minimum wage
Most people can’t live on $7.25 an hour, but a top research university says you will need to cough up some extra change to live in the Oklahoma City Metro. According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) “Living Wage Calculator,” Oklahomans must make at least $7.98 an hour to cover basic living expenses. In Oklahoma County, a single adult must make at least $8.19 an hour to survive. “It leaves no room for any emergencies, medical expenses, or any unexpected expenses,” said Michael Jones, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Association of Community Action Agencies.
A tale of two budgets
$2,060 a month? Or $4,239? Two recent attempts to calculate how much income it takes to make ends meet reached starkly different conclusions. But both, in their own ways, called attention to how hard it is for many families to afford the needs of a monthly budget. They also remind us why many hard-working families still need a boost in today’s economy.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Study finds non-profit arts groups create 10,000 jobs in Oklahoma
It generates $314.8 million for local Oklahoma economies and supports 10,156 full-time equivalent jobs. In the most recent study performed by Americans for the Arts, a leading non-profit organization, that’s the economic impact that non-profit arts groups have in the State of Oklahoma. Almost 250 non-profit arts and cultural organizations throughout rural and metropolitan areas in Oklahoma participated in the survey. Local governments throughout the state saw revenue of $10,334,000, and the State saw revenue of $19,088,000.
Tulsa-area schools chosen for STEM pilot program
Union’s Darnaby Elementary School is one of 44 schools nationwide selected to participate in a pilot program that will bring new rigorous STEM curriculum into elementary classrooms. About 600 students from kindergarten through fifth grade will be among the first elementary students in the country exposed to a new curriculum in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics from national STEM curriculum provider Project Lead the Way. STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and refers to the recent educational push to expose more children to and better prepare them for careers in those fields.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Quote of the Day
The citizens mandated our state to offer health care access to low-income, working Oklahomans back in 2004. Not only did they support the program, but they also supported increasing tobacco taxes to pay for it. We need to obey the will of the people and develop a state plan to provide for health care access after we lose Insure Oklahoma.
-Rep. Doug Cox, R-Grove (Source: http://bit.ly/16yRAB0)
Number of the Day
72.5%
Percentage of full-time, year-round Oklahoma workers with health insurance reporting ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ health, versus just 58.0% for those without insurance
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2011
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
The President’s Economic Speech in 10 Charts
Last week, President Obama gave a speech at Knox College outlining his vision for the US economy. The speech did a great job diagnosing the failure of our economy (and our economic policies) to strengthen and reward the middle-class, even if it was a bit light on prescriptions to address these failures. EPI has researched and documented much of what the president described in his speech. Here’s 10 figures that illustrate many of the president’s points, as well as links to some of EPI’s research on these topics.
Read more from the Economic Policy Institute.
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It’s really terrifying and shocking to know about the Oklahoma drug task force investigation. What’s even more scary is the fact that those men have been impersonating as police officers and extorting what not! Strict actions should be taken against them.