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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. E-mail your suggestions for In The Know items to gperry@okpolicy.org. You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
Today you should know that the state heard different predictions on when the Supreme Court will rule on challenges to the new health care law, and there remains a strong likelihood that the state will be forced to comply with most or all of the law. OK Policy released a new issue brief showing that the state cost of health care reform are likely to be modest and could yield net savings.
Rep. David Dank, the chair of the legislative task force on tax credits, said coal tax credits are the “poster child for just about everything that is wrong with this system.” Governor Fallin said she was embarrassed by the condition of the Capitol building and wants the state to find money for repairs. The Oklahoma Department of Human Services agreed to pay part of a $1.1M settlement to a young man who was sexually molested at a foster home.
At a panel discussion the legislators, Tulsa-area parents of special needs students criticized a private school voucher program for taking resources from public schools with no accountability. The White House said President Obama’s plan on college loans would allow more than 23,000 current students in Oklahoma to lower their monthly payments. Data analysis of Oklahoma’s criminal justice system has been completed by the Justice Center, and lawmakers will now move on to crafting reforms to reduce crime and incarceration.
Today’s Number of the Day is Oklahoma’s unemployment rate for September 2011, up slightly from the previous month’s rate. In today’s Policy Note, Stateline reports on how Oregon may become the next national health care model for seeking to control costs while improving public health through community care.
In The News
State panel told challenges to health care law hinge on Supreme Court’s schedule
Oklahoma lawmakers heard very different predictions about the chances that the legal challenges to the federal health-care law will be resolved before the 2012 presidential election and whether further state “nullification” efforts would be effective. Oklahoma Solicitor General Patrick Wyrick told the legislative panel looking at the federal law’s impact on the state that the issue probably will be decided by the Supreme Court before the election. That prediction was contradicted by Oklahoma City University law professor Andy Spiropoulos, who said there are many reasons to doubt the high court will decide the issue before the next presidential election. Wyrick told the lawmakers that the state’s constitutional issue has framed the issue for Oklahoma, and no further action seems called for, especially because he expects a quick court resolution. But Spiropoulos said legislation to stir the pot might be effective politically, though it won’t work legally.
Read more from The Tulsa World.
See also: State could still be forced to comply with parts of health care law, lawmakers told from The Tulsa World
State cost of health reform likely to be modest and could yield net savings
Under the new national health care law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), one major strategy for providing health insurance coverage to the 50 million Americans who are currently uninsured is an expansion of eligibility in the Medicaid program. Even though the federal government will assume the lion’s share of the costs of insurance for those who gain Medicaid coverage, this expansion has created concern and uncertainty about the impact the law will have on state budgets. We do not yet have a comprehensive study of the projected costs and savings of the Affordable Care Act for Oklahoma’s state budget. However, as a new OK Policy issue brief shows, most studies of the impact of the Affordable Care Act have concluded that increases to state Medicaid budgets will be modest.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Legislative panel questions coal tax credits
Lawmakers must look for another way besides transferrable tax credits to spur new jobs and give a boost to the coal and wind industries, the chairman of a legislative task force looking at tax credits said Wednesday. “State policy has apparently created a whole new industry of brokering and buying and selling transferable tax credits, like a big swap meet with millions being traded back and forth,” Rep. David Dank said. “Is it really good stewardship of tax dollars to have these tax credits handled this way?” Dank, R-Oklahoma City, said he supports the coal industry, but the coal tax credits are the “poster child for just about everything that is wrong with this system.” Job retention in the coal industry would be better addressed through the Oklahoma Quality Jobs Program, he said.
Fallin calls for Capitol repairs
The Oklahoma State Capitol building is crumbling in places and repairs are needed, Gov. Mary Fallin said. Fallin told Edmond Rotary members Wednesday the condition of the Capitol is not acceptable and presents a huge challenge for the state. Early cost estimates approach $130 million for the entire Capitol complex, she said. “It’s going to take a lot of money to fix the Capitol,” Fallin said. “I am very embarrassed right now that at the state Capitol, because of masonry that is falling off — especially in the front of the Capitol — that we have plastic orange barricades on the steps of the Capitol. And it’s been there for the last month and a half.” Fallin said it is not clear what improvements may be needed at the top facades of the Capitol where more serious issues may be found.
Read more from The Edmond Sun.
Oklahoma Department of Human Services to pay part of $1.1M settlement
DHS commissioners voted Tuesday to pay a share of the $1.1 million settlement that is going to a young man who was sexually molested at a foster home. DHS commissioners and attorneys kept secret from the public — for now — how much the state’s share will be. Commissioner Steven Dow said he was told the state’s share will be disclosed when the judge approves the settlement and payment is made. Dow said he voted against the settlement because he hadn’t been given enough time to decide whether it was the right thing to do. He said he first learned of the lawsuit last week. The victim — then 15 — was molested by his foster father and the foster father’s live-in lover in 2006 in Oklahoma City. Both are now in prison for their sex crimes.
Tulsa parents say vouchers for special-needs students take away limited resources from children in public education
School vouchers for special-needs students take away limited resources from children who remain in public education, a group of Tulsa-area parents told legislators Wednesday. Seven local lawmakers participated in a panel discussion coordinated by the Tulsa Area Parents Legislative Action Committee held at the Jenks Education Service Center. Among the legislative panelists was Rep. Jason Nelson, R-Oklahoma City, co-sponsor of the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Act. The law provides taxpayer-funded scholarships so parents can send their disabled students to private schools. The public dollars allocated for each child follow that child wherever they go, whether it is a public school or a private school, Nelson said. But Rep. Fred Jordan, R-Jenks, said school districts don’t pay for their programs in that way. “Just because one child leaves the public school and takes the money with them does not decrease the hard costs that it takes to run that special program in the public school,” he said.
Read more from The Tulsa World.
Obama’s student loan plan aids state
President Barack Obama’s plan on college loans would allow more than 23,000 current students in Oklahoma to lower their monthly payments, the White House said Wednesday. According to a fact sheet, 52,000 borrowers would be able to reduce interest rates and simplify payments by consolidating their loans. In January, millions of students and recent college graduates will be able to consolidate their loans and reduce their interest rates. Starting in 2014, borrowers will be able to reduce their monthly student loan payments to 10 percent of their discretionary income. Under current law, borrowers can limit student loan payments to 15 percent of their discretionary income. That law also forgives all remaining debt after 25 years, but, according to the administration, few students know about this option.
Read more from The Tulsa World.
With Oklahoma criminal justice data crunched, now hard work begins
Analysts have crunched the data regarding criminal justice in Oklahoma and have come up with some interesting findings. Next comes the really tough work — crafting, and then approving, policy that makes a difference. House Speaker Kris Steele asked folks from the Justice Center at the Council of State Governments to study our correctional system. The Justice Center has done the same for more than a dozen other states, helping them develop best practices that produced money-saving reform. Among the findings: Oklahoma’s prison population increased by 15 percent and spending on corrections increased by 41 percent from 2000 to 2010, but the state’s violent crime rate dipped only 4 percent. In three of the largest metro areas (Oklahoma City, Lawton, Norman), the violent crime rate increased from 2000 to 2010 as law enforcement staffing decreased.
Quote of the Day
It’s going to take a lot of money to fix the Capitol. I am very embarrassed right now that at the state Capitol, because of masonry that is falling off — especially in the front of the Capitol — that we have plastic orange barricades on the steps of the Capitol. And it’s been there for the last month and a half.
–Governor Mary Fallin
Number of the Day
5.9 percent
Oklahoma’s unemployment rate for September 2011, up slightly from the previous month’s rate of 5.6 percent.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Oregon banks on community care
Long before the national health law was enacted last year, a handful of states started work on their own health care overhauls. Massachusetts became the first state to require health coverage for all; it was the model for President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. This year, Vermont enacted a unique, state-based method of financing health care. Oregon may soon become the next national model — for seeking to control costs and improve the public’s health at the same time. Setting up so-called “coordinated care organizations” as the front door for patients, the state aims to abandon the impersonal and fragmented way most people receive health services today. In its place, the state hopes, will be community-based systems that resemble the way medicine was practiced a century ago, when local doctors visited families in their living rooms.
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