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.
The New York Times investigated connections between the oil and gas industry and numerous earthquakes that have been shaking Oklahoma. Bills moving through the Legislature that prohibit cities from regulating oil and natural gas drilling operations could prevent the state from participating in the National Flood Insurance Program. The Humane Society is launching a campaign against a bill that would amend the Oklahoma Constitution to disallow regulations of agriculture and animal welfare.
Philanthropist Judy Kishner wrote in the Tulsa World that Oklahoma needs to demand that the Legislature improve investments in the social needs of our state, and there is no way philanthropy can take the place of tax dollars. OK Policy has laid out sensible revenue options that the Legislature could use to close a $611 million budget hole without more cuts to important services. On the OK Policy Blog, Steve Lewis discussed what needs to happen after the recent education rally to really change the Legislature’s attitude towards public schools. The Tulsa World shared the text of a poem by a Mustang High School student that was read at the rally.
The Tulsa World editorial board argued against a bill quietly making its way through the Legislature that would increase the salaries of statewide elected officials. The president of Oklahoma City University has joined a blistering critique of Oklahoma’s recent execution methods. OSU political science professor Rebekah Herrick wrote an op-ed in support of two bills that could make it easier to vote in Oklahoma.
The Oklahoman editorial board called for the Legislature to prioritize mental health funding in next year’s budget. Oklahoma is 10th in the nation for church attendance, in a three-way tie with Texas and Georgia. New data shows that average incomes in Grant County soared above the rest of the state in 2012 due to the fracking boom.
The Number of the Day is Oklahoma’s increase in initial claims for unemployment insurance compared to last year. In today’s Policy Note, Vox makes the case for graduated reentry of prisoners and why we don’t need to keep criminals in prison to punish them.
In The News
As Quakes Rattle Oklahoma, Fingers Point to Oil and Gas Industry
Yanked without warning from a deep sleep, Jennifer Lin Cooper, whose family has lived near here for more than a half-century, could think only that the clamor enveloping her house was coming from a helicopter landing on her roof. She was wrong. A 5.0-magnitude earthquake — the first of three as strong or stronger over several days in November 2011 — had peeled the brick facade from the $117,000 home she bought the year before. Repairs have so far cost $12,000 and forced her to take a second job, at night, to pay the bill.
Read more from The New York Times.
Group Says Oklahoma Bill Threatens Federal Flood Insurance
A group responsible for managing Oklahoma’s floodplains says bills moving through the Legislature that prohibit cities from regulating oil and natural gas drilling operations could prevent the state from participating in the National Flood Insurance Program. The Tulsa World reports that the Oklahoma Floodplain Managers Association has sent a letter to lawmakers warning that the local control legislation might prevent flood insurance policies from being written and renewed.
U.S. Humane Society takes aim at Right to Farm bill
The Humane Society of the United States is targeting a bill it says would hurt Oklahoma farmers and could lead to pollution and animal abuse. The organization is airing commercials in Tulsa and Oklahoma City urging lawmakers to vote against House Joint Resolution 1012. The measure would send the following language to a vote of the people: “The Legislature shall pass no law which abridges the right of citizens and lawful residents of Oklahoma to employ agricultural technology and livestock production and ranching practices without a compelling state interest.”
Read more from the Tulsa World.
The time has come to demand more from the Legislature
Oklahoma citizens have many unmet needs. Article after article in the Tulsa World talk about the lack of mental health care for families in need, the large numbers without adequate health insurance, struggling rural hospitals, overcrowded and unsafe prisons and the challenges of our public education system. Are we going to let these problems remain unmet and ignore the consequences of our chronic lack of investment in the social needs of our state?
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: Options for a balanced approach to solve Oklahoma’s budget gap from the OK Policy Blog.
What needs to happen after the education rally
This week put the focus on public schools — at least that was the intention of several thousand teachers and other education supporters who rallied at the Capitol Monday. Last year’s rally did not seem to produce much in terms of results. Education supporters should be in the effort for the long term, but I’m not sure what success would look like for the rally this year. At the least, supporters will demonstrate that they are still around and still unhappy with the status quo.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Read the Mustang High School student’s piece that lit up the state Capitol education rally on Monday
Thirsty hungry driven broken / i am a student / hardworking passionate strong weak soft spoken / i am a student / chained down by tests that say / i’m not allowed to fly if i don’t click my mouse a certain way / i am a student / an unlit match just waiting to be struck
Read more from the Tulsa World.
No raises for state elected officials
Once again, a proposal is quietly floating through the state Capitol to raise the pay of state appellate judges in Oklahoma. Once again, if it becomes law it will mean the pay of future governors and other statewide elected officials would also go up too. Once again, it’s bad policy and politically ill-timed. We don’t have a big issue with giving the judges a pay raise, but it’s less than honest with the citizens to allow that action to increase the pay for politicians automatically.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
OCU President Robert Henry joins criticism of Oklahoma’s execution method
The president of Oklahoma City University has joined a blistering critique of Oklahoma’s recent execution methods, telling the U.S. Supreme Court that state lawyers picked an inappropriate drug for lethal injection because they were on a tight deadline and under political pressure. “Oklahoma’s hasty, non-science-driven process for selecting midazolam as the first drug in its three-drug protocol did not cohere with its solemn duty to ensure its punishments are lawful,” a brief signed by OCU President Robert Henry says.
Bills would help increase voter turnout
Did you vote last fall? If so, give yourself a pat on the back. If not, don’t worry — you’re not alone. For the past few elections, turnout in Oklahoma has been among the worst in the nation. In the 2014 midterms, with no presidential race to bring out the vote, just three in 10 eligible voters cast ballots. That was Oklahoma’s lowest rate in at least 50 years, and only six states did worse. Sadly, the 2014 midterm election was not unique.
See also: Boost Electoral Participation from Together Oklahoma; Repairing Oklahoma’s Broken Democracy from OK Policy
Oklahoma would benefit from continued investment in mental health
Oklahoma is moving toward “performance-informed budgeting” for state government, an attempt to make agency heads show that the taxpayer funding they’re receiving is being spent as wisely as possible. That’ll be a walk in the park for Terri White. As director of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, White already has piles of data showing the return that the state is getting on its investment in her agency.
Oklahoma makes top 10 list in church attendance
Oklahoma is in the top 10 states in per capita church attendance — barely. A new Gallup poll found that 39 percent of Sooners are in a church, mosque, temple or synagogue at least once a week, putting Oklahoma at No. 10 in a three-way tie with Texas and Georgia. Utah, a heavily Mormon state, led the nation with 51 percent church attendance. Church attendance in America has been declining since the 1950s in the Catholic and Protestant worlds, with the sharpest declines in the mainline Protestant churches.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Grant County soars above rest of state in 2013 household income
Gary Aebi’s timing couldn’t have been any better when he decided three years ago to open an RV park in the Grant County town of Medford in northern Oklahoma. Business took off, thanks largely to the energy boom that sprung from new horizontal drilling and fracking techniques being employed in the area. New data from the Internal Revenue Service confirms what everyone in Grant County was experiencing at the time. The average income in Grant County in 2012, based 2013 filings, was $86,864. No other county in the state was even close to making what the residents in Grant County were earning.
Read more from The Tulsa World.
Quote of the Day
“Oklahoma’s hasty, non-science-driven process for selecting midazolam as the first drug in its three-drug protocol did not cohere with its solemn duty to ensure its punishments are lawful.”
-A brief filed with the US Supreme Court by OCU President Robert Henry and others that argues Oklahoma picked an inappropriate drug for lethal injection because officials were under political pressure (Source).
Number of the Day
36%
Oklahoma’s increase in initial claims for unemployment insurance compared to last year.
Source: Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
We don’t need to keep criminals in prison to punish them
America’s prison state is a disaster. One percent of the adult population is behind bars, and corrections is squeezing higher education out of state budgets. We have five times as many people in prison as we ever had before 1980, and five times as many (per capita) as any other advanced democracy. What’s worse is that it is, in this era, a completely unnecessary disaster. It’s simply not true that to punish someone and control his behavior you need to lock him up and pay for his room and board.
You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
