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Today you should know that Gov. Mary Fallin will talk with her counterparts at the Republican Governors Association meeting before deciding by Friday’s deadline whether Oklahoma is going to form a state electronic health insurance exchange. KOSU created a health care exchange tip sheet. A presentation by OK Policy outlines the issues surrounding a state-run vs. a federally facilitated exchange.
Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board plans to seek public input on how to implement a law change that allows the board final say in paroles of nonviolent offenders. The DHS child welfare worker who committed suicide after a young girl’s murder and his supervisor are not to blame for her death, a prosecutor has concluded. The House speaker pro tem-elect said Monday he helped raise money for a political action committee that hasn’t filed required financial reports in more than two years.
The Oklahoman editorial board writes that finding offsets must be part of any effort to reduce Oklahoma’s income tax. The OK Policy Blog reviewed Angie Debo’s classic book, Oklahoma: Foot-loose & Fancy-free. The Number of the Day is Oklahoma’s rank nationally for the rate of divorce. In today’s Policy Note, the New York Times writes that the Obama administration will soon take on a new role as the sponsor of at least two nationwide health insurance plans to be operated under contract with the federal government and offered to consumers in every state.
In The News
Oklahoma’s governor will talk about health insurance exchange with GOP peers
Gov. Mary Fallin will be talking with her Republican counterparts before deciding by Friday’s deadline whether Oklahoma is going to form a state electronic health insurance exchange. “We’ll have some kind of an announcement, but after that Republican Governors Association meeting,” Alex Weintz, Fallin’s communications director, said Monday. The deadline for states to declare their plans to federal officials remains Friday. The U.S. Health and Human Services Department late last week extended the deadline until Dec. 14 to submit a plan to develop an insurance exchange, which would align the uninsured with insurance providers. States also can decide to develop a state-federal partnership or enroll residents in a federal exchange program.
See also: Health care exchange tip sheet from KOSU; Health Insurance Exchanges Under the Affordable Care Act: State-run vs. Federally facilitated from Oklahoma Policy Institute
Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board seeks public input on new amendment
Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board plans to seek public input on how to implement a law change that allows the board final say in paroles of nonviolent offenders. The board, which begins its four-day November hearing on Tuesday, wants to consider comments from the public and prosecutors throughout the state as it discusses how to implement newly passed State Question 762, chairman Marc Dreyer said. Because the vote on SQ 762 won’t be certified until after the board begins reviewing and voting on the November parole docket Tuesday, all of this month’s recommendations will still be reviewed by Gov. Mary Fallin.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
DHS worker who committed suicide after child’s death cleared of wrongdoing
The DHS child welfare worker who committed suicide after a young girl’s murder and his supervisor are not to blame for her death, a prosecutor has concluded. “Nothing in my investigation showed any wrongdoing by either worker,” Pottawatomie County District Attorney Richard Smothermon said Monday. Lincoln County child welfare specialist Donald W. Wheeler killed himself July 13, 2011, about a month after he was suspended over Serenity Deal’s death, records show. His supervisor, Wes Priest, quit after being suspended.
Oklahoma political action committee fails to file campaign financial reports
The House speaker pro tem-elect said Monday he helped raise money for a political action committee that hasn’t filed required financial reports in more than two years, but he had no part in deciding which House candidates received $11,000 in contributions the finals days of their campaigns. The political action committee, A Positive Solution, contributed $1,000 each to seven incoming freshman GOP House members, causing several House members to say privately the money could have been a deciding factor in Rep. Mike Jackson winning the leadership post.
NewsOK: Finding offsets must be part of efforts to reduce Oklahoma income tax
As it was this time last year, tax cut fever in Oklahoma is starting to register on the thermometer. This year, however, more emphasis seems to be on tying tax cuts to bona fide offsets. Oklahoma Gov. Tax cut fever has centered on reducing the state’s personal income tax, the top rate for which is now 5.25 percent. A year ago, Gov. Mary Fallin and Republican legislators were eager to reduce the top rate as part of a plan to eventually eliminate the income tax. While we think the top rate should be below 5 percent, we also know that offsets will safeguard priority spending areas.
Read This: Oklahoma, Foot-loose & Fancy-free
This book is a fan favorite at Oklahoma Policy Institute, and one of the best books on Oklahoma I’ve had the pleasure of reading. Published in 1949 and written by Angie Debo, Oklahoma: Foot-loose & Fancy-free has a little something for everybody. Fifteen chapters explore politics, art, entertainment, social and cultural relations, oil & gas, agriculture, transportation, gaming – even football. It contains an especially rich account of the tribes, nations, and freedmen that settled the territory before statehood.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Quote of the Day
A key thing to remember as tax cut fever registers on the thermometer in coming months is that there was no groundswell for an income tax cut last year. Furthermore, the blowback to specific tax cut proposals was significant.
Number of the Day
3rd
Oklahoma’s rank nationally for the rate of divorce, behind only Nevada and Arkansas; there were 5.2 divorces for every 1,000 people in Oklahoma in 2010.
Source: National Vital Statistics System
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
U.S. Set to Sponsor Health Insurance
The Obama administration will soon take on a new role as the sponsor of at least two nationwide health insurance plans to be operated under contract with the federal government and offered to consumers in every state. These multistate plans were included in President Obama’s health care law as a substitute for a pure government-run health insurance program — the public option sought by many liberal Democrats and reviled by Republicans. Supporters of the national plans say they will increase competition in state health insurance markets, many of which are dominated by a handful of companies.
Read more from the New York Times.
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