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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 Governor Fallin is approving far fewer paroles than Governor Henry did. A state question on the ballot this November would remove the Governor from the parole process for nonviolent offenders. A backlog of more than 800 death investigations with the State Medical Examiner’s Office, some more than a year old, are hampering police investigations and depriving survivors of life insurance payments and other benefits.
Hundreds of residents in Creek County and other parts of the state returned home Sunday after mandatory wildfire evacuations, but fires continued to burn and some people found their homes in ashes. Oklahoma and 20 other states released a Request for Proposal asking US auto manufacturers to produce compressed natural gas vehicles for use in state automobile fleets. Student debt is following a growing number of Oklahomans into their 50s and 60s.
An OK Policy Blog guest post shows that ALEC’s “Rich States/Poor States” report totally fails to predict which states will be rich or poor. An initiative petition to allow wine in grocery stores will not be circulated until next year. A statewide prohibition of tobacco products on all state property and in state-owned buildings and vehicles takes effect today.
The Tulsa World writes that joining the Medicaid expansion would result in more productive, tax-paying citizens, without increasing cost to the state. In today’s Policy Note, a new study from MIT shows that a large portion of America’s older population has very little savings in bank accounts, stocks and bonds, and relies almost totally on Social Security payments. The Number of the Day is the cost of an average residential electricity bill in Oklahoma.
In The News
Fallin approves 51 percent of parole bids, far fewer than her predecessor
Gov. Mary Fallin’s parole approval record is considerably more conservative than her predecessor’s. From February 2011 through June of this year, Fallin’s approval rate was 51 percent. For the comparable time frame, former Gov. Brad Henry’s rate was 85 percent. Meanwhile, voters in November will decide the fate of State Question 762 that, if approved, would remove the governor from the parole process involving nonviolent offenders. Fallin supports the measure, according to her office.
Read more from The Tulsa World.
See also: 2012 State Questions from Oklahoma Policy Institute
Medical Examiner backlog holds up survivors’ benefits
More than 800 death investigations are pending with the State Medical Examiner’s Office, some more than a year old, hampering police investigations and depriving survivors of life insurance payments and other benefits, a Tulsa World investigation has found. Kathy O’Connell is among those affected by the agency’s backlog. Her husband, a decorated Vietnam veteran with three tours of duty as a combat medic, died three months ago. His death left O’Connell, 58, of Sand Springs, with no income because she is disabled and cannot work. The couple, married 33 years, depended on her husband’s veterans benefits, which stopped when he died from a stroke April 26. Since then, she said she has been living on their dwindling savings. The medical examiner’s office had to sign off on the death certificate because Larry O’Connell was cremated and all cremations require a certificate. Without a completed death certificate, O’Connell cannot collect on her husband’s life insurance policy.
Fires still burn in Oklahoma as residents sift through ashes
Hundreds of residents in Creek County and other parts of the state returned home Sunday after mandatory wildfire evacuations, but fires continued to burn and some people found their homes in ashes. About 58,000 acres have burned in the area west of Tulsa. No deaths have been reported but officials are concerned there may yet be victims found. They had no estimate for the number of structures lost or the number of people left homeless. “This is now a marathon, not a sprint,” Oklahoma State Forrester George Geissler told reporters Sunday morning. “The fires are not going to be contained or under control for several days still.” Firefighters were at work against new flare-ups west of Mannford starting about 2 p.m. Sunday. Officials said more assets were being brought in to fight the fires, including helicopters and tanker planes, although Oklahoma is competing for only nine large tankers in the country.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
State solicit bids for CNG vehicles
Oklahoma and 20 other states today released a Request for Proposal to auto manufacturers in the United States asking them to produce affordable and functional compressed natural gas vehicles for use in state automobile fleets. The RFP is the culmination of a multistate, bipartisan initiative first announced in November by Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. Thirteen states signed the original Memorandum of Understanding stating their intention to purchase CNG vehicles for use in state fleets. The RFP also incorporates participation from eight additional states that have since pledged their intent to participate. The states participating in the RFP include: Oklahoma, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming. The RFP was produced by the National Association of State Procurement Officials, which leverages the purchasing power of states by aggregating purchases on a variety of products.
Read more from the Pryor Daily Times.
Student debt follows growing number of borrowers into their 50s, 60s, including in Oklahoma
When Connie Green started graduate school 20 years ago, she hoped it would put her on track for a better career. Two decades later, Green is dealing with an effect of her time in graduate school that she never expected — a mountain of student loan debt that she anticipates will follow her until she retires. Green, 54, graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma with a master’s in English in 1994. When she started school, she took out private student loans to pay her tuition and other expenses. She is still making monthly payments against those loans and expects to be paying for at least the next 10 years. Green isn’t alone. Recent data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank suggests a growing number of Americans ages 50 and older are saddled with student loan debt.
Guest blog (Peter Fisher): ALEC recommends wrong prescriptions for state prosperity
This year marks the fifth anniversary of Rich States, Poor States: The ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index. First published in 2007, this report written by Dr. Arthur Laffer and others and published by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) purports to be a guide to state policies that promote economic growth. It seems an opportune time to assess how well their measure of a state’s Economic Outlook in 2007 actually performed. Simply put, the ALEC Outlook Ranking fails to predict economic performance. If the states following the prescriptions of Laffer and company succeeded in generating more income for their residents than the states who failed to subscribe to their policies, they should have higher incomes and lower poverty rates. The opposite is the case.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
State question on wine sales delayed
An initiative petition for a state question that would allow some grocery stores to sell wine will not be circulated until next year, supporters said Friday. A legal challenge delayed plans to circulate the petition in time to get the question on November’s general election ballot. The petition withstood a legal challenge earlier this year. But the challenge delayed efforts to gather the needed 155,000 signatures to make this fall’s ballot. Oklahomans for Modern Laws said the petition will be re-filed and circulated in 2013 with hopes that a state question will appear on the 2014 ballot. Organizers will have 90 days to collect the required signatures.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Tobacco ban on Oklahoma-owned property takes effect today
A statewide prohibition of tobacco products on all state property and in state-owned buildings and vehicles takes effect Monday. Those caught smoking or chewing tobacco won’t face a fine or jail time. The prohibition, issued by Gov. Mary Fallin through an executive order she signed at the start of this year’s legislation session in early February, contains no provisions for punishment. “There are no fines or anything that’s in place with that,” Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Chris West said. “If people are coming into state buildings and they’re violating it, they’ll probably be visited with and asked to refrain from that. And if they continue, they’ll probably just be asked to leave.” The Central Services Department has been implementing the tobacco ban at the state Capitol, along with 18 buildings in the Capitol complex and state office buildings in Tulsa since July 1.
Tulsa World: Medicaid expansion good for Oklahoma
More reason why Gov. Mary Fallin ought to accept the Medicaid expansion under the federal Affordable Care Act: It could save the state $47.8 million it is spending on health services for lower-income Oklahomans. The savings would be accomplished by shifting services now completely funded with state dollars to Medicaid funding. That would allow the state to shift its money to other uses or to expand other health-care services to low-income Oklahomans. Michael Brose, executive director of the Mental Health Association, said that accepting the increased federal funding would let Oklahoma serve more mentally ill people, give doctors and other service providers desperately needed rate increases and bring more crisis beds to northeastern Oklahoma. The result would be more productive, tax-paying citizens, without increasing cost to the state.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Quote of the Day
The delay adversely compromises everyone: families, law enforcement, judiciary, insurance companies. There are other agencies that need our reports like the FAA, fire departments, the child death review board. … We are not just a repository of the deceased; we are actually providing information that helps all these people.
-Chief Medical Examiner Eric Pfeifer, on the more than 800 death investigations still pending with the State Medical Examiner’s Office, some more than a year old.
Number of the Day
$101.39
The cost of an average residential electricity bill in Oklahoma, ranked 24th nationally, 2009
Source: EIA via Oklahoma Policy Institute
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Many Americans reach old age with ‘virtually no financial assets’
It is a central worry of many Americans: not having enough money to live comfortably in old age. Now an innovative paper co-authored by an MIT economist shows that a large portion of America’s older population has very little savings in bank accounts, stocks and bonds, and dies “with virtually no financial assets” to their names. Indeed, about 46 percent of senior citizens in the United States have less than $10,000 in financial assets when they die. Most of these people rely almost totally on Social Security payments as their only formal means of support, according to the newly published study, co-authored by James Poterba of MIT, Steven Venti of Dartmouth College, and David A. Wise of Harvard University. That means many seniors have almost no independent ability to withstand financial shocks, such as expensive medical treatments that may not be covered by Medicare or Medicaid, or other unexpected, costly events.
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