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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 teens charged with first-degree murder for the shooting of an Australian baseball player have denied any involvement. Female inmates were routinely subjected to sexual battery and harassment by employers through a work-release program at a Turley halfway house, according to a lawsuit filed against the private company operating the facility. The OK Policy Blog discussed how civil asset forfeitures have allowed Oklahoma police – and private contractors – to seize citizens’ property without due process.
Oklahoma Secretary of Commerce Dave Lopez will resign to become the interim superintendent of OKC Public Schools. Two state legislators who oversee funding for public education raised concerns about state Superintendent Janet Barresi’s proposal to fund $2,000 annual teacher raises out of schools’ existing budgets. Barresi wrote an op-ed for the Tulsa World about her proposal. The Tulsa World editorial board responded that after districts have already undergone $200 million in funding cuts from the state in the past five years, it’s dubious that there’s another $100 million to be found for teacher raises. OK Policy previously released a fact sheet showing that there are not enough savings to be found from cutting administrative costs in Oklahoma schools to significantly boost funding for instruction.
State employees who were bypassed for an across-the-board pay increase earlier this year will see their health insurance premiums go up. Oklahoma National Guard officials told the state Senate Appropriations Committee that more funding is needed to remodel and maintain existing armories in the state. Bloomberg News reported on a 72-year-old Oklahoma mailman who has the longest postal route in the country. Reuters reported on an invasion of wild pigs that are destroying crops and wildlife habitats in Oklahoma.
The Number of the Day is the percentage of Oklahoma restaurant servers and fast food workers who earn a family income at or below the poverty level and have no health insurance. In today’s Policy Note, Demos explains why there isn’t a clear trade-off between work and welfare anymore — many full-time workers find themselves with near-poverty incomes.
In The News
Duncan teenagers accused of murder deny involvement
The teen accused of firing the shot that killed an Australian baseball player is claiming he wasn’t involved. Luna and James Francis Edwards Jr., 15, were charged with first-degree murder. Chancey Allen Luna, 16, was identified by the district attorney during a court hearing last week as the shooter. But he has told both his court-appointed defense attorney and his family that he wasn’t. Edwards also is denying involvement in the shooting. Michael Dewayne Jones, 17, was charged with accessory to first-degree murder after the fact and use of a vehicle in discharge of a weapon. Prosecutors have based their accusations in part on statements made by Jones, who told police the victim was shot because they were bored. Jones admitted driving the car at the time of the drive-by shooting, police reported.
Female inmates sue private halfway house firm for negligence
Female inmates were routinely subjected to sexual battery and harassment by employers through a work-release program at a Turley halfway house, according to a lawsuit filed against the private company operating the facility. At least 20 women have made allegations against Oklahoma City-based Avalon Correctional Services, said an attorney who filed the negligence lawsuit in Tulsa District Court. The suit alleges Turley Residential Center staff “did not follow the procedures for operating the work-release program and further directed women to places of employment with supervisors who utilized their positions of authority to sexually exploit the women.”
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Policing for profit in Oklahoma
In July, Caddo County Special Judge David A. Stephens strongly condemned a “shocking” practice that was exposed after a woman driving along I-40 was stopped and questioned by Joe David, the owner of a private Guthrie-based company, Desert Snow. Since January, Desert Snow had been participating in roadside stops and searches along with other members of a local drug task force. According to its website, Desert Snow is “dedicated to all those who traffic contraband and the Law Enforcement Officers who relentlessly pursue them!!!”.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Commerce Secretary Lopez named interim OKC schools superintendent, will resign state post
Oklahoma Secretary of Commerce Dave Lopez will be the interim superintendent of Oklahoma City Public Schools, the district’s school board announced Monday. The Oklahoma City Board of Education announced Monday that Lopez, 62, will resign as commerce secretary on Friday and take over Sept. 2 as interim superintendent of the state’s largest school district. He will serve for the remainder of this school year and is not a candidate for the permanent job, according to a district news release.
Read more from the Associated Press.
Superintendent’s plan worries lawmakers
Two state legislators who oversee funding for public education in Oklahoma raised concerns Monday about state Superintendent Janet Barresi’s proposal to fund $2,000 annual teacher raises from local district carry-over funds. Rep. Lee Denney and Sen. Jim Halligan, both Republicans from Stillwater, said they support the goal of increasing teacher pay, but acknowledged it would be difficult for the Legislature to come up with the $100 million needed to fund the plan each year. Halligan said he particularly is concerned about Barresi’s suggestion of using a one-time funding source to pay for raises that would become a recurring cost for local districts.
Read more from the Enid News & Eagle.
See also: Janet Barresi: Let’s give every teacher $2,000 raise from the Tulsa World; State needs to play part in funding raises from the Tulsa World; Oklahoma schools have relatively low administrative costs from Oklahoma Policy Institute
State of Oklahoma employees brace for health insurance cost increase
State employees who were bypassed for an across-the-board pay increase earlier this year may want to brace themselves for another financial hit. The cost of health insurance premiums will be going up on seven of the eight insurance plan options offered to state employees beginning Jan. 1. For employees who choose the popular HealthChoice High option, the option chosen by 80 percent of state employees, premiums will go up $20.88 a month for single employees with no dependents. Couples with two or more children on that plan will see their premiums rise $31.10 a month.
Oklahoma National Guard tells lawmakers more state funding is needed
Oklahoma National Guard officials on Monday told the state Senate Appropriations Committee that more funding is needed to remodel and maintain existing armories in the state. Of $10.7 million the guard received in state appropriations for fiscal year 2013, more than $1.5 million went to armory maintenance. That sum, the same appropriated for fiscal year 2014, allows for one “legacy” armory – an existing facility usually built by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s or ’40s – to be updated each year.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
72-year-old Oklahoma mailman has America’s longest route
He’s on County Road 1680 moving like a black-tailed jackrabbit under the big-bowl Oklahoma sky, a tiny dot in his Ford Ranger out on the edge of the world when the flying red stinger ants show up. One, two, now three, they invade. Jim Ed Bull swats with a big hand. Other on-the-job nuisances include hail, mud, diamondback rattlers, wild boars, coyotes, bobcats, porcupines and skunks. Bull is a letter carrier with the longest postal route in America, 187.6 miles across some of the loneliest territory in the country. He’s 72, and part of the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. labor force — those who work past their 65th birthdays.
Read more from Bloomberg News.
Oklahoma battles wild pigs
A few years ago, Jim Vich would not have dreamed of setting up an elaborate trap to catch wild hogs. But that was before Oklahoma was invaded by a plague of pigs that devour crops, uproot pastures, destroy wildlife habitats, spread disease to humans and animals, kill trees and even knock over cemetery stones. Oklahoma is battling a wild pig problem that has spread across the United States. The pigs, evolved from introduced wild boars or from escaped domestic stock, are prevalent in 36 states and have been sighted in 47 states, according to authorities who track their populations.
Quote of the Day
I’m very excited about the thought that we might be able to give our teachers raises, but being in the business I’m in, I certainly worry about a funding source, and a dedicated funding source, so that we could keep the raises funded every year.
-Rep. Lee Denney (R-Stillwater), chair of the appropriations subcommittee for education, on state Superintendent Janet Barresi’s suggestion that schools give all teachers $2,000 raises without any extra funds from the state (Source: http://bit.ly/17h9LOg)
Number of the Day
75 percent
The percentage of Oklahoma restaurant servers and fast food workers who earn a family income at or below the poverty level and have no health insurance
Source: U.S. Census via Oklahoma Watch
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
CATO’s dated welfare vs. work framework
The Cato Institute came out with a big study recently that argues the familiar point that generous welfare payments undermine incentives to work. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities promptly replied with a four-page paper rebutting key aspects of the report. The most striking point raised by the Center, although not its main one, is that there really isn’t such a clear trade-off between work and welfare these days — and that CATO’s overall framing belongs to an earlier era.
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