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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.
Today you should know that a group of Republican lawmakers have developed a plan for accepting federal funds to provide health coverage to low-income Oklahomans. A Senate committee approved a measure to limit Oklahoma’s bond debt that would still allow enough borrowing power to repair a crumbling Capitol building and take on other public projects. OK Policy previously explained why running government like a business means taking on debt and why measures to limit Oklahoma’s debt could actually make it more expensive.
A new poll commissioned by OK Policy shows that most Oklahoma voters oppose a proposed tax cut after learning what it would do. You can see the full poll results here. Fort Gibson Republican Rep. Arthur Hulbert declared that he will vote against the tax cut, citing his pledge to not cut taxes at the expense of education. Oklahoma could face an unexpected budget hole of more than $400 million due to a court case challenging Oklahoma’s treatment of capital gains. Gov. Sam Brownback has proposed taking $9.5 million from an endowment fund for early-childhood programs to help cover a budget hole created by tax cuts.
The final House vote on the tax cut will likely happen today. You can contact your Representative to speak out using this form.
Schools are scrambling to make up for lost time after computer problems interrupted mandatory state testing across the state. University of Oklahoma President David Boren painted a dire picture of the state’s long-term future if lawmakers don’t make higher education a funding priority. Bills to make it easier for third parties to get on Oklahoma ballots will not receive a hearing on the House floor. The OK Policy Blog previously featured a guest post on why Oklahoma needs ballot access reform.
The Number of the Day is the percentage of registered voters in Oklahoma that oppose an income tax cut that reduces revenue for public education, public safety and health care. In today’s Policy Note, Wonkbook shares the final draft of a form that Americans will use to apply for coverage in Affordable Care Act health exchanges, which has become much simpler and shorter than earlier drafts.
In The News
GOP legislators propose plan to accept federal funds for insuring low-income Oklahomans
A group of Republican lawmakers have developed an alternative plan to provide health coverage to uninsured Oklahomans that would require most recipients to work and pay modest co-payments, The Associated Press has learned. The plan could help provide health insurance coverage to up to 150,000 people who are currently uninsured, according to a tentative estimate from the Oklahoma Health Care Authority. The plan includes some elements of Insure Oklahoma, a premium assistance program that uses Medicaid funds to help provide coverage to about 30,000 low-income, working Oklahomans. It also builds on a proposal approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature in neighboring Arkansas that would allow the use of federal Medicaid funds to purchase private insurance.
Senate committee approves bond debt limit
Oklahoma’s bond debt could be limited but still allow enough borrowing power to repair a crumbling Capitol building and take on other public projects under an overhauled bill that passed a Senate committee Wednesday. The measure would limit Oklahoma’s debt indirectly by capping the state’s debt-service payments — the interest paid on state-issued bonds. The proposal leaves enough room for bond issues to cover Capitol renovations, a pop culture museum in Tulsa and the still-unfinished American Indian Cultural Center and Museum in Oklahoma City, State Bond Advisor Jim Joseph has said.
Read more from the Associated Press.
Previously: Running government like a business means taking on debt from the OK Policy Blog; Bills to limit Oklahoma’s debt could make it more expensive from the OK Policy Blog
Voters oppose cuts to education, other services for tax cuts
Most Oklahoma voters oppose a proposed cut for state income taxes if it comes at the expense of funding for education, public safety and health care. That finding was the result of a survey commissioned by the Oklahoma Policy Institute, a Tulsa-based think tank for public policy. The results of the survey, which has a 4 percent margin of error, were released a day before the measure is expected to be presented for a vote in the House of Representatives. When asked only about cutting the personal income tax rate from 5.25 percent to 5 percent beginning January 2015, 52 percent of those polled said they favored the proposal. That support waned significantly when respondents learned more about the proposed cuts, who would benefit, and the impact on core services.
Read more from the Muskogee Phoenix.
See also: Poll shows Oklahomans oppose tax cut plan after hearing the facts from the OK Policy Blog
Court’s tax ruling could have seismic impact on state budget
As legislators consider a final vote on a tax cut that would ultimately reduce state revenues by over $230 million, the state could be facing unexpected liabilities in the hundreds of millions of dollars due to a court case challenging Oklahoma’s treatment of capital gains. A memo circulated earlier this month by Senator Mike Mazzei sets out the potential impact of a ruling in January 2013 by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. An out-of-state company, CDR Systems Corporations, challenged an Oklahoma law, enacted in 2005, that exempts all capital gains from the sale of Oklahoma-based property or stocks from state individual and corporate income tax. The Court found that the law violated the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution by giving preferential treatment to Oklahoma-based companies.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Kansas Gov. proposes taking funds from early childhood endowment to cover budget hole from tax cut
Gov. Sam Brownback has proposed taking $9.5 million from an endowment fund set up to pay for early-childhood programs and transferring that to the state’s all-purpose general fund to help balance the budget. Advocates for children are unhappy with the proposal. “We are taking money from little kids to bail the state out,” Shannon Cotsoradis, president and chief executive officer of Kansas Action for Children, said Tuesday. Brownback isn’t the first Kansas governor to raid the fund, but Cotsoradis said this time is different. In the past, funds were diverted because the state was suffering economic problems, she said. Now, she said, Brownback needs the funding because he signed into law tax cuts that cut too deeply.
Read more from the Lawrence Journal-World.
Schools squeezed by test problems
Computer problems interrupted mandatory state testing Tuesday, leaving schools with their “backs against the wall,” one official said. Hilldale, Muskogee and Fort Gibson all reported interruptions in service as students took tests online. Consequently, all three districts must now find another day, possibly two, to make up the tests. Hilldale Public Schools Superintendent Kaylin Coody said it’s of particular concern for Hilldale students as time in the school year is running out.
Read more from the Muskogee Phoenix.
University of Oklahoma president ‘guardedly optimistic’ about higher education funding
Although he said he is “guardedly optimistic” about budget talks in the Legislature, University of Oklahoma President David Boren painted a dire picture Tuesday of the state’s long-term future if lawmakers don’t make higher education a funding priority. Boren discussed the university’s funding outlook, including possible changes to tuition and fees, at a public hearing for students Tuesday. Boren told students that Oklahoma is effectively dismantling its higher education system, withdrawing state support until public colleges and universities become quasi-private schools funded primarily through tuition, mandatory fees and private donations.
Opportunity for ballot access reform killed
Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon held true to his word — ballot access reform wasn’t a priority for him this year. Despite two bills being introduced this session, one in the House and one in the Senate, neither bill made it to the House floor for a vote. House Bill 2134, the bill that would have returned the petition requirement to form a new party to the 5,000-signature requirement of 1974, failed to reach the House floor. Despite passing the House Rules Committee, the Calendar Committee refused to hear the bill at the request of Shannon. This quickly killed the best opportunity for real reform in the state.
Previously: Evidence mounts for Oklahoma ballot access reform (Guest Blog: Zachary Knight) from the OK Policy Blog
Quote of the Day
This is part of the reason we don’t want too many state-mandated exams. Maybe the whole structure of testing needs to be looked at closely to see if the state has gone to too many at one time. To make this up, regular classroom days will be have to be disrupted. It’s disrupted two days already, and now it’s hard to go back and make up that time.
–Fort Gibson Superintendent Derald Glover, on problems with testing company CTB/McGraw Hill’s computers that disrupted mandatory state testing across the state
Number of the Day
56 percent
Percentage of registered voters in Oklahoma that oppose an income tax cut that reduces revenue for public education, public safety and health care
Source: Oklahoma Policy Institute Poll via Global Strategy Group
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Affordable Care Act application just got a whole lot simpler
When the Obama administration published a first draft of the form that Americans will use to apply for health coverage under the nation’s new Affordable Care Act, it didn’t go well. The application got the most attention for being 21 pages. It was clunky — for example, applicants had to provide their Social Security number twice on the same page. That intimidating stack of paper was quickly pitched. On Tuesday, the Health and Human Services Department rolled out the final version of the basic application, which had been cut to five pages and is available below.
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