OKPOLICY.ORG
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.
Facing a budget hole of $611.3 million, Oklahoma lawmakers are considering declaring an emergency and taking money from the Rainy Day Fund, even as they allow a tax cut to go forward that is adding $50 million to the budget hole. Revenue from gross production taxes on oil and gas drilling has dropped to its lowest level in more than a dozen years. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has denied Gov. Mary Fallin’s request for aid for Tulsa and Cleveland counties following severe storms last month.
A Florida-based health care provider is suing Oklahoma County, alleging roughly $660,000 in inmate medical bills are unpaid. The Oklahoma Department of Transportation said Oklahoma roads have deteriorated in the past few months due to freeze thaw cycles and 40 years of underfunding. A State Highway 83 bridge near the Oklahoma-Arkansas border has been closed for emergency repairs after a crew sent to fill potholes discovered extensive deterioration of the inner beams.
A pilot program in Tulsa County is equipping police officers with a life-saving drug called naloxone to counter the effects of an opioid overdose. For Oklahomans ages 25 to 64, prescription drug overdoses have become a leading cause of accidental death. The Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma could be a holdout in allowing same-sex marriage, even if a U.S. Supreme Court ruling recognizes these marriages nationwide. Gov. Mary Fallin has vetoed legislation that would require state agencies to provide legislative committees with copies of any memorandums of understanding entered into during the legislative session.
House Speaker Pro Tem Lee Denney said lawmakers and education interests have reached an agreement on major charter school legislation. SB 782 would remove the restriction limiting charter schools to Tulsa and Oklahoma counties while putting into statute greater detail on the application and renewal process. A bill to add large cities to the list of entities — including school districts, colleges and universities, and tribes — that can sponsor charter schools will not advance this session.
A Senate committee passed a bill that would increase the waiting period to obtain an abortion from 24 hours to 72 hours. Students at Rogers State University have launched a “Start by Believing” campaign to bring notice to Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Eastern Oklahoma State College in Wilburton is under heightened federal oversight over concerns about its compliance with federal and financial regulations.
Oklahoman reporter Brianna Bailey is sharing stories from a walk along the length of Oklahoma City’s Western Avenue. The New Yorker published a long report on the rise of human-made earthquakes in Oklahoma. The Number of the Day is $45,882 – the average wage and salary in 2013 for Canadian County, the highest in Oklahoma. The lowest average wage and salary was $22,688 in Cimarron County. In today’s Policy Note, FiveThirtyEight reports on how FICO is set to unveil a new scoring method for those without much of a credit history that uses alternative financial data like utility, cable and cellphone bills and rental history.
In The News
An Emergency and a Tax Cut?
Facing a budget hole of $611.3 million, Oklahoma lawmakers are considering taking money from the Constitutional Reserve Fund, or as it’s commonly called, the “Rainy Day Fund.” Currently, the Rainy Day Fund has a balance of $535.2 million. The Legislature could take close to 61 percent, or about $326 million. An emergency is being considered despite the fact that the State Equalization Board certified enough revenue growth in December to allow the next wave of income tax cuts to go into effect.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
See also: Halt the tax cut from the OK Policy Blog
Oklahoma production tax collections from oil companies lowest in 12 years
In another sign of a deepening slump for Oklahoma’s leading industry, gross production tax revenue in March dropped to its lowest level in more than a dozen years, according to data released Monday. These tax collections from oil and natural gas companies fell to $39.6 million for the month, lowest since September 2002, when $32.5 million was reported, state Treasurer Ken Miller said.
FEMA says no to disaster declaration for Tulsa, Cleveland counties
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has denied Gov. Mary Fallin’s request for aid for Tulsa and Cleveland counties following severe storms last month, the Governor’s Office said Monday. Damage from tornadoes, severe storms, straight-line winds and flooding in late March “was not of such severity and magnitude as to be beyond the capabilities of the state, affected local governments and voluntary agencies,” W. Craig Fugate, FEMA administrator, said in a Friday letter to Fallin denying a request for a major disaster declaration.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Lawsuits says Oklahoma County medical bills went unpaid
A Florida-based health care provider is suing the Oklahoma County Board of Commissioners in district court, alleging roughly $660,000 in inmate medical bills are unpaid. Attorneys for Armor Correctional Health Services, a private corporation that contracts with Oklahoma County to provide on-site medical care to jail inmates, wrote in a petition that the money owed to their clients stems from overrun costs.
ODOT Blames Deteriorating Roads On Underfunding, Freeze Cycle
If you think roads have gotten worse in the past few months, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation said you’re right. Engineers at Monday’s transportation commission meeting blamed it on the freeze thaw cycles. They also said it’s not going to get a lot better anytime soon. Engineers said the snow, ice and freezing rain in February and March did a number on state roads, but said the problem of 40 years of underfunding can’t be fixed in a short time.
LeFlore County Bridge To Get Emergency Repairs
The Oklahoma Transportation Commission Monday approved an emergency repair project for a bridge on State Highway 83 south of Poteau in LeFlore County. A crew sent to fill potholes on the bridge on March 27, 2015 discovered extensive deterioration of the inner beams and immediately closed it to traffic. Video sent to News On 6 by a viewer showed the deck of the bridge, which was built in 1937, flexing several inches as a truck passed over it.
Opioid overdose drug offers ‘a second chance’ in emergencies, Oklahoma officers say
Tulsa police officer Robin Mendenhall was about a mile away when a call came in one November night that a man thought he might have taken too much of his medication. The man had started to feel strange so he pulled off the road and called 911. He was unconscious when Mendenhall arrived. Mendenhall retrieved a kit from her patrol car and sprayed something called naloxone in the man’s nose.
See also: Oklahoma’s biggest drug problem isn’t what you think from the OK Policy Blog.
Handful of holdout tribes dig in against gay marriage
Even if a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this spring makes same-sex marriage the law, it would leave pockets of the country where it isn’t likely to be recognized any time soon: the reservations of a handful of sovereign Native American tribes, including the nation’s two largest. The Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma and the Navajo Nation, with about 300,000 members each, maintain decade-old laws that don’t recognize same-sex marriage.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Gov. Fallin vetoes transparency bill
Gov. Mary Fallin has vetoed legislation she says would burden state agencies with needless mandates. Fallin issued the veto on Monday for legislation known as The Governor’s Transparency Act of 2015. The measure would require state agencies to provide legislative committees with copies of any memorandums of understanding entered into during the legislative session.
House leader says charter school agreement reached
Lawmakers and education interests have reached an agreement on major charter school legislation, the second-ranking member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives said Monday. House Speaker Pro Tem Lee Denney, R-Cushing, said she “almost couldn’t contain myself” as she presented the new language for Senate Bill 782, by Sen. Clark Jolley, R-Edmond, to the House Common Education Committee. SB 782 would remove the restriction limiting charter schools to Tulsa and Oklahoma counties while putting into statute greater detail on the application and renewal process.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma City, Tulsa charter school bill fails in House committee
A bill that would allow Oklahoma City and Tulsa to sponsor charter schools will not advance this session, its House author said. Rep. Jason Nelson, R-Oklahoma City, said the bill was held up by a committee on Monday but could come up again next year. The bill would add large cities to the list of entities — including school districts, colleges and universities, and tribes — that can sponsor charter schools. As written, it would apply only to Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
Bill increasing wait time for abortion approved by Oklahoma Senate committee
A measure increasing the waiting time for an abortion passed a Senate panel on Monday. House Bill 1409 would increase the waiting time for an abortion to 72 hours from 24 hours. Oklahoma would become the fourth state with a 72-hour waiting period, said Tony Lauinger, state chairman of Oklahomans for Life.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Rogers State University community promotes Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Students from Rogers State University combined efforts with the “Start by Believing” campaign to bring notice to Sexual Assault Awareness Month. In light of the Rolling Stone’s article catching backlash for reporting about an alleged rape, the RSU community is urging people to remember that victim shaming is never the answer.
Wilburton College Under Federal Investigation
Eastern Oklahoma State College in Wilburton is under heightened federal oversight over concerns about its compliance with federal and financial regulations. Officials with the U.S. Department of Education said Friday that the department is conducting a review into the small eastern Oklahoma college’s handling of federal student aid.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
Walk on Western: A journey across Oklahoma City
Starting Monday morning, I will walk the entire length of Oklahoma City down Western Avenue. The trip is about 27 miles and–according to Google–would take about 9 hours if I just walked at a steady pace, non-stop. However, I am going to take my time, meeting people and exploring interesting places along the route.
Weather Underground
In the fall of 2011, students in Katie Keranen’s seismology course at the University of Oklahoma buried portable seismograph stations around the campus, in anticipation of a football game between the Sooners and the Texas A. & M. Aggies. The plan was to see if the students could, by reading the instruments, detect the rumble of eighty-two thousand fans cheering for a touchdown. Few noticed that Keranen and her team had gathered likely the best data we have on a new phenomenon in Oklahoma: man-made earthquakes.
Read more from The New Yorker.
Quote of the Day
“It’s a pretty significant drop but certainly not unexpected.”
– State Treasurer Ken Miller, speaking about news that March 2015 revenue collections from oil and gas production were 48 percent below those of March 2014, and at their lowest levels in 12 years (Source)
Number of the Day
$45,882
Average wage and salary in 2013 for Canadian County, the highest in Oklahoma. The lowest average wage and salary was $22,688 in Cimarron County.
Source: TRAC.
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
FICO Wants To Create Credit Scores For People Who Don’t Have Them
Most Americans need credit to buy a house or car, and to get credit, they need a credit score. Credit scores rely on past payment information to gauge a borrower’s risk. But that reliance on credit history presents a paradox. Some Americans can’t take advantage of lines of credit — either because the information for them on file is insufficient or because they have no credit record at all. Help finding a way in for those currently shut out of the credit system presents a huge opportunity — not only for credit-starved individuals, but also for lenders looking to tap a new customer base.
Read more from FiveThirtyEight.
You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
