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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 director search for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services has been narrowed to Ed Lake, a retired deputy commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Human Services. Two state legislators have sued to block $2 million in state funding for the privately operated Oklahoma Youth Expo. An architect estimated that necessary repairs to the state Capitol building would cost $153 million.
Oklahoma has experienced among the best total personal income growth of any state in the past year, though median household income and poverty remained flat. The OK Policy Blog shares a video with the facts about Social Security. Oklahoma farmers and ranchers who sold livestock due to the drought have been granted additional time to replace the animals and defer tax on any gains from the forced sales.
An Oklahoma County community service program has received national recognition for its efforts to reintegrate offenders into the community. The Norman Transcript reports on debate over State Question 759, which would ban affirmative action in Oklahoma. The OK Policy Blog previously discussed 7 things you (probably) don’t know about affirmative action. This Land reports on study showing tax cuts haven’t boosted the economy, and they are even less likely to do so in Oklahoma.
The Number of the Day is the percentage of Oklahomans who filed federal tax returns in 2010 that earned less than $100,000 in adjusted gross income. In today’s Policy Note, a report from the Council of State Governments’ Justice Center shows that Texas and Kansas have seen double-digit drops in recidivism among ex-convicts after they expanded rehabilitation and treatment programs.
In The News
Final candidate in DHS director search to meet Fallin at Oct 11 final interview
The director search for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services has been narrowed to a former Tennessee human services administrator, according to a report given Tuesday at the DHS oversight commission meeting held in Tulsa. Ed Lake, a retired deputy commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Human Services, will return to Oklahoma for a final interview at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 11 in Oklahoma City, said DHS oversight chairman Wes Lane. Lake was a finalist for the job in May, but the commission opted to hire a search firm to expand the list of candidates. He worked for the Tennessee agency for 39 years, from front-line worker to administrator, before retiring in February last year. Lake will be interviewed in executive session by the commissioners and will also meet with Gov. Mary Fallin and her staff.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Lawmakers try to block money to Oklahoma Youth Expo
Two state legislators have filed suit seeking to block $2 million in state funding for the privately operated Oklahoma Youth Expo, the world’s largest junior livestock show. Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, and Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, argue that money for the expo is unconstitutional for several reasons, including that there is no specific language in the state budget authorizing the spending, the expenditure would use public money for a private purpose, the money would be an illegal donation of state money and that funding for the expenditure comes from state funds which are not authorized for that use. Their lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Oklahoma County District Court.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Lawmakers tour crumbling state Capitol
Bright yellow barricades that prevent pedestrian traffic in front of Oklahoma’s Capitol are just the most obvious indication that major repairs are needed on the nearly 100-year-old building, the state’s Capitol architect told lawmakers Tuesday. Architect Duane Mass and other state officials took members of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee on a tour of areas of the building outside the public’s view that revealed rotting pipes, crumbling walls and a patchwork of disorganized repairs. Mass estimated the necessary repairs at about $153 million, a price tag that will be difficult to foot with an increasingly conservative Legislature that has shown its distaste for issuing state bonds to pay for projects. A last-minute proposal for a $200 million bond package at the end of last session received just 15 votes in the 101-member House.
Oklahoma among leaders in personal income growth
Oklahoma has experienced among the best personal income growth of any state in the past year, based on estimates issued Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The state’s 1.2 percent growth in personal income in the second quarter was the seventh-best rate among all states. Chad Wilkerson, Federal Reserve economist in Oklahoma City, said only one state — oil-rich North Dakota — has topped Oklahoma in personal income growth for each of the past four quarters. The bureau estimated Oklahoma’s total personal income at $148.2 billion in the April through the June period, compared with $146.5 billion in the previous quarter. Census figures released last week show Oklahoma’s median household income of about $43,000 ranks 42nd among states. The state’s median household income, a different measure than personal income, remained flat from 2010 to 2011 while the nation’s median income fell about 1.3 percent.
Watch This: Just the facts about Social Security
With much of the national discourse on entitlements focused on mounting national debt, widening budget deficits, waste and abuse, and the looming ‘insolvency’ of landmark initiatives like Medicare and Social Security, it might surprise you to learn the facts. This 4-minute video from the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) – a nonprofit, nonpartisan group of the nation’s leading experts on social insurance – explains the basics of Social Security. The video lays out the program’s purpose, who pays for it, who gets it, and what it means to seniors and working families.
Watch the video at the OK Policy Blog.
Oklahomans forced by drought to sell livestock get tax break
Oklahoma farmers and ranchers who sold livestock due to the drought have been granted additional time to replace the animals and defer tax on any gains from the forced sales, the Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday. It’s the second straight year that all 77 counties qualified for potential tax breaks due to drought. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Market Economist, said the current Oklahoma drought, while severe, has not been as protracted as the one that lasted much of 2011. Oklahoma’s stock of beef cows decreased 14.3 percent in 2011, from just more than 2 million to 1.73 million head, Peel said. Based on preliminary numbers, Peel said, he doesn’t expect quite as large of a decrease this year.
Oklahoma County community service program earns national nod for innovation
An Oklahoma County community service program has received national recognition for its efforts to reintegrate offenders into the community. The SHINE program — which stands for Start Helping Impacted Neighborhoods Everywhere — was one of 111 “Bright Ideas” designees for 2012, according to an announcement made Tuesday by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. The program — which puts nonviolent offenders on supervised county work crews for litter, brush and graffiti cleanup — was honored for its creativity in addressing these conditions while reintegrating the offenders through a community project, the center announced in a news release. Oklahoma County Commissioner Brian Maughan developed the program in 2010, and recently helped secure legislation to provide a permanent funding source and allow expansion of the program to counties across the state.
SQ 759 could limit affirmative action
Has affirmative action turned into a discriminatory preference that grants unfair treatment to certain groups? And if so, should it be abolished? State Question 759 brings these questions to Oklahoma voters in November by prohibiting what the bill’s authors consider preferential treatment or discrimination created by affirmative action. Several groups have taken a stance against the measure and are urging a “no” vote. “I think that for this measure to pass, supporters have to count on misinformation about what Affirmative Action is in Oklahoma and what it is not,” said Ryan Kiesel, ACLU of Oklahoma executive director. “There is a general belief that affirmative action means a quota system where a less qualified applicant might get a job or might get admitted to college over a more qualified applicant simply because of race or gender, and that’s just not true.”
Read more from the Norman Transcript.
Previously: 7 Things You (Probably) Don’t Know About Affirmative Action from the OK Policy Blog
Study: Tax cuts don’t boost the economy (not even in Oklahoma)
Mary Fallin has made it her mission as governor to reduce Oklahoma’s state income tax. She fought but lost in the last legislative session, and she’s vowed to push the issue again next year. Her argument? Cutting the top tax rate makes the state more competitive in vying for new business against states like Texas and Kansas, neither of which collect state income taxes, which would result in a more prosperous economy. There are new arguments against this theory, though. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave a speech in downtown Washington, D.C., earlier this month decrying the political obsession with tax cuts. “The first question most entrepreneurs ask is not can I afford the taxes — it’s not that. It is: Who are my customers, and where do I need to be to serve them, and how do I get up and running quickly?”
Quote of the Day
I think that for this measure to pass, supporters have to count on misinformation about what Affirmative Action is in Oklahoma and what it is not. There is a general belief that affirmative action means a quota system where a less qualified applicant might get a job or might get admitted to college over a more qualified applicant simply because of race or gender, and that’s just not true.
–Ryan Kiesel, ACLU of Oklahoma executive director
Number of the Day
90 percent
Percentage of Oklahomans who filed federal tax returns in 2010 that earned less than $100,000 in adjusted gross income.
Source: IRS
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Fewer Texans return to prison as state focuses on rehabilitation, treatment
Thanks partly to greatly expanded rehabilitation and treatment programs, Texas sent 11 percent fewer ex-convicts back to prison in recent years a significant drop in recidivism that is being replicated across the country, according to a new study. The study, to be released today by the Council of State Governments’ Justice Center project, shows that Texas’ recidivism rate — the number of felons who return to prison within three years after they are discharged or paroled — posted the double-digit drop for prisoners released in 2007. In Kansas, which has been expanding treatment and rehab programs since 2004, the drop was 15 percent.
Read more from the Austin-American Statesman.
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