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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. Click here to subscribe to In The Know and see past editions.
The House Appropriations and Budget Committee passed a dozen bills to cap how much funds are transferred off-the-top to education, roads, tourism, and other services. Since the early 2000s, just over a third of motor vehicle tax revenues have been automatically transferred to local school districts, but HB 2244 caps that amount to never exceed what schools get this fiscal year, with the rest going to the General Revenue Fund. With two months left in the fiscal year, schools have so far received $230.7 million from automatic motor vehicle tax transfers.
The House approved an additional $25 million to complete the long-delayed American Indian Cultural Center in Oklahoma City, while a bill to provide $25 million for a museum of popular culture in Tulsa failed in the Senate by one vote. But the author of the measure, Senate Pro Tem Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, indicated he would seek another vote. Sen. Bryce Marlatt, R-Woodward said he accidentally changed his vote to no seconds before the vote was closed, and he intends to vote for it when Senate President Pro Tem Bingman brings it up for another vote.
An investigation by The Frontier found that for the past five years, state and federal auditors have repeatedly criticized the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office for lax oversight of inmate trust accounts — but those warnings prompted little change and some of the funds went missing. The Oklahoma attorney general’s office has elected not to pursue charges after reviewing a state audit that examined allegations of criminal wrongdoing in a private contract awarded for demolition work on the Tar Creek Superfund cleanup site.
On the OK Policy Blog, research fellow Cassidy Hamilton looks at the pros and cons of vote-by-mail elections. Legislation to make municipalities pay if they adopt ordinances which restrict the development of oil and gas has been granted a conference committee hearing in the Oklahoma House. A former Norman high school student pleaded no contest to rape, a crime that led hundreds of his fellow students to walk out in November and demand punishment for incidents they said were not being taken seriously. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison with eight years of the sentence suspended.
The Number of the Day is the percentage of renting households in Oklahoma whose total rent consumes more than half of the household’s income. In today’s Policy Note, The Atlantic examines how the gap between the richest and poorest in the U.S. has grown so wide that fewer Americans are calling themselves middle class.
In The News
Preview of state budget draws blood in Oklahoma House
Precursors to the state budget agreement expected later this week left blood smears in the Capitol conference room where the House Appropriations and Budget Committee met Monday afternoon. The committee passed a dozen bills, three of which redirect nonappropriated apportionments — so-called “off-the-top” money — to the state general revenue fund. The committee also passed seven personnel measures that Democrats said use Oklahoma’s $611 million decline in general revenue as a pretext to chisel away at the state employee merit protection system.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
OKPOP falls one vote short of Senate approval; House OKs Indian cultural center funds
A bill that calls for the construction of a museum of popular culture in Tulsa failed on Monday to secure Senate approval. But the author of the measure, Senate Pro Tem Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, indicated he would seek another vote. At almost the same moment the Senate failed SB 839, the House passed without discussion or debate legislation providing an additional $25 million to complete the long-delayed American Indian Cultural Center in Oklahoma City.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Tulsa Jail trust funds went missing as auditors raised red flags
For the past five years, state and federal auditors have repeatedly criticized the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office for lax oversight of inmate trust accounts — but those warnings prompted little change and some of the funds went missing, an investigation by The Frontier found. State auditors also questioned the sheriff’s office for lack of oversight over federal grant funds used to finance a multi-agency drug task force, records show.
Oklahoma attorney general declines criminal charges in Tar Creek audit
The Oklahoma attorney general’s office has elected not to pursue criminal charges after reviewing a state audit that examined allegations of criminal wrongdoing in the awarding of demolition work on the Tar Creek Superfund cleanup site in northeast Oklahoma. State Attorney General Scott Pruitt ordered the state auditor’s office not to release its findings.
Should Oklahoma adopt all voting-by-mail elections? (Guest Post: Cassidy Hamilton)
Last year, Oklahoma was ranked 49th in the nation in voter engagement in a study by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Less than half of eligible Oklahomans voted in the 2012 presidential election and only three-fourths of eligible Oklahomans are even registered, putting Oklahoma 46th nationally in voter registration. To address our state’s poor voter participation, State Senator David Holt introduced a package of ten bills that if enacted, would fundamentally restructure Oklahoma’s election process.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Municipal oil and gas regulation bill granted conference committee
Proposed legislation to make municipalities pay if they adopt ordinances which restrict the development of oil and gas is granted a conference in the Oklahoma House. Senate Bill 468 by Senator Bryce Marlatt (R-Woodward) and Representative Kevin Calvey (R-Oklahoma City) was granted a conference on Monday. The bill, if passed in its current form, calls any ordinance or restriction of recovery of minerals, including oil and natural gas, a “taking” of property. That compels the municipality to compensate the mineral rights owner or producer.
Read more from OK Energy Today.
Oklahoma teen sentenced for rape that sparked school walkout
A former Oklahoma high school student pleaded no contest on Monday to rape, a crime that led hundreds of his fellow students to walk out in November and demand punishment for incidents they said were not being taken seriously. Tristen Killman-Hardin, 18, was sentenced to 10 years in prison with eight years of the sentence suspended.
Quote of the Day
“We’re not just writing this down because we want to write something in a report.”
-State Auditor and Inspector Gary Jones, in a 2012 audit that found widespread problems with the management of jail funds by the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office. For the past five years state and federal auditors have repeatedly criticized the Sheriff’s Office lax oversight of funds, but those warnings prompted little change and some of the funds went missing (Source).
Number of the Day
21%
Percentage of renting households in Oklahoma whose total rent consumes more than half of the household’s income.
Source: US Census American Community Survey
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
What Does ‘Middle Class’ Even Mean?
According to a recent survey from Gallup, about 51 percent of Americans consider themselves middle or upper-middle class, while 48 percent consider themselves working or lower class. That’s the highest share to identify themselves as being on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder since Gallup began gathering such data in 2000, and a big drop-off from earlier periods, when as much as 63 percent of respondents considered themselves to be middle class.
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