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.
Today you should know that Gov. Mary Fallin will deliver her State of the State address today as the Legislative session begins. She is expected to call for reducing the top personal income tax rate from 5.25 percent to 5 percent with no offsets, a proposal much less ambitious than what she outlined in last year’s State of the State.
House Speaker T.W. Shannon is downplaying talk of a fringe element in the GOP caucus, but the first showdown within the caucus may happen today as the House approves new rules to govern the chamber. More than 30 bills have been filed to change Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation system. For a resource to help you follow Oklahoma’s legislative process this year, check OK Policy’s 2013 Legislative Primer.
Though she does not face reelection until 2014, Gov. Mary Fallin has nearly $400,000 in accumulated campaign funds. Authorities are investigating a 911 call claiming that a bomb would explode at the Governor’s Mansion, which resulted in evacuation from the state Capitol. State Superintendent Janet Barresi called on the Legislature to halt the use of lottery proceeds as a source of state aid to public schools and to dedicate it instead to school technology needs. The Tulsa World criticized House Republicans for claiming to support education while also supporting more tax cuts.
The Tulsa World called for Oklahoma’s seven public pension plans to be merged to save administrative costs. Several Oklahoma leaders of Christian nonprofits said they were “cautiously optimistic” about a work-around the Obama administration proposed Friday for religious nonprofits that object to providing health insurance that covers birth control. OK Policy Director David Blatt spoke to a conference about the possibility of civil discourse in Oklahoma.
The Number of the Day is the maximum number of days until adjournment of this year’s Oklahoma Legislative session. In today’s Policy Note, the Washington Post reports on an FCC proposal to create public WiFi networks across the nation, so powerful and broad in reach that consumers could use them to make calls or surf the Internet without paying a cellphone bill every month.
In The News
Oklahoma Governor to address Legislature as new session begins
Gov. Mary Fallin will issue a repeated call Monday for lawmakers to reduce the state’s personal income tax rate. A source close to the governor said she will propose knocking a quarter percent off the state’s highest personal income tax rate, dropping it from 5.25 percent to 5 percent. Her proposal last year would have cut the top personal income tax rate by nearly half. Gov. Mary Fallin The governor will reveal details of her health plan in her State of the State speech Monday. Fallin, who is preparing to give her third State of the State address, declined to release specifics of her plan, but said her proposed reduction will be less than 1 percent. Fallin is scheduled to talk to lawmakers shortly after 12:30 p.m. Monday. Legislators will gather at noon at the state Capitol to convene the first session of the 54th Legislature.
House Speaker downplays talk of fringe element in his GOP caucus
The first glimpse of how strong a grip House Speaker T.W. Shannon has over the largest-ever House GOP caucus should be shown Monday, the first day of the legislative session. Bright yellow barriers prevent pedestrians from encroaching into the south plaza area where debris occasionally falls from crumbling sections of the state Capitol on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman Members of the House of Representatives are expected to take up approving rules that will govern the lower chamber for the 54th Oklahoma Legislature, which will cover the next two years. Several conservative House Republicans are expected again to seek getting a rule passed that would let all or most bills filed by members to have a committee hearing.
Oklahoma Legislature flooded with workers’ compensation bills
Business owners’ cries for workers’ compensation reform are reverberating through the Oklahoma Legislature, with more than 30 bills filed that could radically change the way injured workers are treated. “It is the most important issue for us this year,” said Mike Seney, senior vice president for policy analysis and strategic planning for The State Chamber of Oklahoma. “Let’s recognize the system is not working and start over.” Jimmy Curry, president of the AFL-CIO labor union in Oklahoma, agrees change is needed. However, he questions whether some of the changes proposed by businesses and lawmakers will fix the system’s real problems. “Safety has to be paramount,” Curry said. The best way to reduce workers’ compensation costs is to decrease the number of on-the-job accidents, he said.
Gov. Fallin’s campaign fund has nearly $400,000
Gov. Mary Fallin steams into the second half of her first team with nearly $400,000 in accumulated campaign funds, according to year-end filings with the state Ethics Commission. For the year, Fallin reported contributions of $130,499.86 and, although she does not face re-election until 2014, expenditures of $99,520.54. More than half the contributions and nearly half the expenditures occurred in the fourth quarter of 2012. Fallin campaign expenditures during 2012 included $19,210.24 to The Tarrance Group, an Alexandria, Va., consulting firm whose partners include Ed Goeas, a longtime political adviser to Fallin.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Bomb hoax forces evacuation of Oklahoma capitol
Authorities Friday were investigating a 911 call claiming that a bomb would explode at the Governor’s Mansion, which resulted in evacuation from the state Capitol of more than 1,000 people, including more than 500 schoolchildren who were there for a special event. No arrests were made as of late Friday, although the Oklahoma Highway Patrol initially said a woman had been taken into custody. No injuries were reported. A woman called Oklahoma City’s 911 emergency line at 10:25 a.m. Friday and said a bomb would explode in five minutes in the Governor’s Mansion and another building, patrol trooper Betsy Randolph said.
Barresi wants lottery funds to be used for technology, not state aid to schools
State Superintendent Janet Barresi on Thursday called on the Legislature to halt the use of lottery proceeds as a source of state aid to public schools and to dedicate it instead to school technology needs. “I want to work with the Legislature on this, with the provision that the hole (in state aid) be filled and to use lottery money in the way it was intended, which was for the ‘extra’ or ‘special’ things needed to enhance education,” Barresi told the Tulsa World before a state Board of Education meeting at one of Oklahoma’s most technologically advanced schools. Each year, $30 million to $34 million from the state lottery is used as a source of state aid payments to public schools across the state. Barresi said she will be seeking a permanent, dedicated revenue stream for technology needs fed by that lottery money.
Read more from theTulsa World.
Tulsa World: House agenda committed to education, not funding
State House Republicans revealed their agenda for the 2013 session on Thursday. Prominent among their goals is a “commitment to quality education.” Of course the agenda also includes another cut in the state personal income tax rate, to 5 percent from the current 5.25 percent. How does that work, exactly? A big problem with public education in Oklahoma is that state funding, inadequate to begin with, has been cut by 20 percent since 2008. That’s due in part to the economic recession and in part to years of reckless cuts to the income tax, which provides about a third of the state’s revenue. Oklahoma is pulling out of the recession and sales and energy taxes are up a bit but the recovery hasn’t yet been reflected in increased funding for education.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Pension deficit disorder
Oklahoma’s seven public pension plans all operate separately, with their own boards, buildings and investment advisors. That autonomy or rugged individualism comes at a price: The five largest plans spend a combined $80 million to $100 million annually on administrative expenses. That’s a luxury in a state suffering from extreme Pension Deficit Disorder. Despite reforms over the past two years, Oklahoma has $11 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, still one of the worst records in the U.S. That number equals about 7 percent of the Gross State Product, with about $2,900 of pension debt per citizen, says state Treasurer Ken Miller. Further reduction of liabilities is needed. At stake are the financial futures of more than 220,000 past and present state workers, the state’s credit rating and other considerations.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Cautious optimism in Oklahoma on new health mandate
Several Oklahoma leaders of Christian nonprofits said they were “cautiously optimistic” about a work-around the Obama administration proposed Friday for religious nonprofits that object to providing health insurance that covers birth control. However, they said they are troubled that the new options will not help for-profit businesses like the Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby or address what they see as the government’s trampling on their civil rights, The Oklahoman and Tulsa World report. “This latest move by the administration shows the impact that citizens of faith are having,” the Rev. Anthony Jordan, executive director-treasurer of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, said Friday.
Read more from the Enid News & Eagle.
Return to civil discourse goal of faith groups
As the inauguration of President Barack Obama brought to an end one of the most acrimonious election seasons in memory, some people in faith communities are looking for ways to return civility to American society. We don’t have political opponents, we have Nazis. … We don’t have economic crises, we have fiscal cliffs,” said Gary Peluso-Verdend, president of Phillips Theological Seminary, which sponsored a two-day conference last week on faith and civil discourse. “You can’t have civil discourse that way.” David Blatt, director of the Oklahoma Policy Institute, described the process by which the Oklahoma Legislature was persuaded to drop a plan to abolish the state income tax. He said that experience taught him that civil discourse is possible.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Quote of the Day
We’ve got members in the middle 70s all the way down to 21-year-olds and we’ve got everything in between. I think that’s a benefit to the people of Oklahoma.
–House Speaker T.W. Shannon, speaking about age diversity in the House Republican caucus
Number of the Day
117
Maximum number of days in this year’s Oklahoma Legislative Session, which begins today and adjourns by May 31, 2013.
Source: Oklahoma Policy Institute
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Tech, telecom giants take sides as FCC proposes large public WiFi networks
The federal government wants to create super WiFi networks across the nation, so powerful and broad in reach that consumers could use them to make calls or surf the Internet without paying a cellphone bill every month. The proposal from the Federal Communications Commission has rattled the $178 billion wireless industry, which has launched a fierce lobbying effort to persuade policymakers to reconsider the idea, analysts say. That has been countered by an equally intense campaign from Google, Microsoft and other tech giants who say a free-for-all WiFi service would spark an explosion of innovations and devices that would benefit most Americans, especially the poor. The airwaves that FCC officials want to hand over to the public would be much more powerful than existing WiFi networks that have become common in households. They could penetrate thick concrete walls and travel over hills and around trees. If all goes as planned, free access to the Web would be available in just about every metropolitan area and in many rural areas.
Read more from the Washington Post.
You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
