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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.
Judges would be allowed to depart from Oklahoma’s mandatory minimum sentences for some nonviolent crimes under a bill given final legislative approval Tuesday. Oklahoma currently has at least 122 mandatory minimum prison sentences that are among the harshest in the nation. The Legislature also approved a bill that authorizes oil derived from the marijuana plant to be used in clinical trials for patients with severe forms of epilepsy.
The Legislature approved a bill directing the Oklahoma Health Care Authority to initiate request for proposals for privatized managed care of some Medicaid patients. There’s evidence that moving Oklahoma Medicaid to privatized managed care could increase costs while reducing access to health care for Oklahomans. Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister fired 10 people and saw another 14 resign during her first five months at the Oklahoma State Department of Education. On the OK Policy Blog, we discuss how a move to evaluate teachers based on student-test scores could become Oklahoma’s next big education reform controversy.
Oklahoma City is not target with its budget projections for this year, with revenue from sales tax was just 0.2 percent below projections through the first 10 months of the current fiscal year. Boeing Co. hopes to strike a deal with Oklahoma City for $6 million in job creation subsidies. Budget cuts to the state Supreme Court are expected to force layoffs in county court clerks’ offices. The Department of Public Safety is seeking $4.6 million to maintain a pay raise granted last year to state troopers.
Oklahoma’s Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust Fund has grown to a balance of more than $1 billion. Embattled Tulsa Sheriff’s Office volunteer reserve deputy Robert Bates was caught on tape boasting that his connections in the sheriff’s department and the U.S. attorney’s office could be used against his opponent in a lawsuit. The Number of the Day is the number of bison in captivity in Oklahoma in 2012. In today’s Policy Note, the Marshall Project examines why people tend to age out of crime, and what it could mean for how long we put them away.
In The News
Key sentencing reform bill on way to Governor’s desk
Judges would be allowed to impose shorter sentences for some nonviolent crimes under a bill given final legislative approval Tuesday. The Justice Safety Valve Act is a key part of the agenda to divert more offenders into alternative programs and away from long terms in the state’s overcrowded prisons. Gov. Mary Fallin has spoken in favor of sentencing reform this year and is expected to sign the bill into law.
See also: Oklahoma’s mandatory minimum punishments too often don’t fit the crime from the OK Policy Blog
Legislature approves cannabis oil study
Gov. Mary Fallin’s desk is the next stop for legislation that authorizes an investigational study into clinical trials on certain patients with severe forms of epilepsy using an oil derived from the marijuana plant. The Oklahoma House voted 85-5 for the measure and sent it to Fallin to be signed into law. Fallin has expressed support for the idea but says she remains opposed to legalizing all medical marijuana applications.
Oklahoma House sends governor bill with wide-ranging implications for Medicaid
A seemingly simple, straightforward bill with broad implications for the state’s Medicaid program went to the governor Tuesday after approval by the state House of Representatives. House Bill 1566 by Rep. Glen Mulready, R-Tulsa, runs just four paragraphs, only two of which contain substantive language, but Mulready said it could save the state as much as $1 billion over five years by privatizing some aspects of care management. Minority Leader Scott Inman, D-Del City, said it is an “immoral” attempt to close the state’s $611 million revenue gap at the expense of the poor.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: Proposal to transform Medicaid could reduce health care access, increase costs from the OK Policy Blog
Under New Superintendent, Two Dozen Resign or Quit
Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister fired 10 people and saw another 14 resign during her first five months at the Oklahoma State Department of Education. No historical data is available to determine whether the number is high, low or typical. Phil Bacharach, a spokesman for Hofmeister’s office, said she had no comment on the turnover. The list of departures includes a controversial hire made by her predecessor, Superintendent Janet Barresi.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
Will this be Oklahoma’s next education reform controversy?
A recent pattern in Oklahoma education policy has been major education reforms passed in earlier years becoming highly controversial just as they are about to go into effect. A strong pushback from parents and educators has led to the rollback or modification of numerous reforms, from Common Core Standards to 3rd grade retention, A-F school grades, and end-of-instruction exams.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Finances are on target, Oklahoma City officials say
Oklahoma City is on the money this year when it comes to financial planning. Now the challenge for city leaders is to project where finances will stand this time next year. The city council will get its first look at recommendations for the year ahead in a week, when the 2015-16 budget is introduced. City Manager Jim Couch said Tuesday that revenue from sales tax was 0.2 percent below projections through the first 10 months of the current fiscal year.
Boeing seeks $6 million in job creation incentives from Oklahoma City
Boeing Co. hopes to strike a deal with Oklahoma City for $6 million in job creation incentives to assist the aircraft manufacturer as it shifts about 900 jobs to the city. The incentives would help Boeing build a new $80 million, 290,000-square-foot facility at its current plant in southeast Oklahoma City. The expansion would include more than 150,000 square feet of cutting-edge lab space, according to a city memo on the proposal.
Rogers County court system may be facing cutbacks
Rogers County Court Clerk Kim Henry told the Board of County Commissioners Monday that State Supreme Court budget cuts could soon have an impact on local courtroom functions by necessitating a reduction in the number of minute clerks employed. Minute clerks are needed for the courtroom documentation of Oklahoma Court Information System data, which is required by state statute.
Read more from the Claremore Daily Progress.
Public Safety Department seeks $4.6 million to keep trooper pay steady
The Department of Public Safety is seeking $4.6 million to maintain a pay raise granted last year to state troopers, a Senate panel was told Tuesday. Public Safety Commissioner Michael Thompson told the Senate Appropriations Committee that he hoped the Legislature and governor would keep the agency’s appropriation at $95.7 million, a figure that includes money to continue the pay level. Lawmakers are struggling to craft a fiscal year 2016 budget and anticipate having $611 million less to spend than in the current fiscal year.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma tobacco trust fund tops $1 billion after payment
Oklahoma’s Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust Fund has a balance of more than $1 billion, state Treasurer Ken Miller announced Tuesday. The trust fund balance grew to $1.03 billion with a deposit of $57.6 million, 75 percent of the annual payment to the state from tobacco industry. The payments are the result of a 1998 lawsuit by Oklahoma and 45 other states against tobacco companies. Oklahoma has received a total of $1.25 billion.
Read more from the Associated Press.
Tulsa reserve deputy Robert Bates boasts of connections in secret recording
Embroiled in a legal battle over the sale of his insurance company, Robert Bates met a former colleague at a restaurant to discuss the court case over drinks. But Bates, the volunteer Tulsa County deputy now facing a manslaughter charge for shooting an unarmed suspect, did not know the 2012 conversation was being secretly recorded by his companion, Bryan Berman, the company’s new president. During the exchange, Bates boasted of his connections in the sheriff’s department and the U.S. attorney’s office, and suggested he could make life miserable for the plaintiffs.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Quote of the Day
“Hands them a sack and says, ‘Give me your money. Under the scenario today, he gets the maximum, 20 years. Twenty years, and he’s never committed a violent crime. Under this bill the judge can look at this and say, ‘Wait a minute, 20 years makes no sense.’ “The judges need to have that discretion.”
-Rep. Bobby Cleveland, R-Norman, speaking about a young man who was convicted of robbing a convenience store without using a weapon. The Legislature recently passed a bill that allows judges to depart from Oklahoma’s mandatory minimum sentences when it is in the interest of justice and public safety (Source).
Number of the Day
9,685
Number of bison in captivity in Oklahoma in 2012
Source: 2012 Census of Agriculture
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Why people age out of crime, and what it could mean for how long we put them away
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is facing the death penalty or life in prison for the Boston Marathon bombing. But what if, instead, the maximum prison sentence were just 21 years?That was the sentence that Anders Behring Breivik received in 2012 after killing 77 people, most of them teenagers attending a summer program, in Norway in 2011. It was the harshest sentence available. That doesn’t mean Breivik will ever walk free. Judges will be able to sentence him to an unlimited number of five-year extensions if he is still deemed a risk to the public in 2033, when he is 53.
Read more from The Marshall Project.
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