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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 Oklahoma’s attorney general is renewing the state’s lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act. The amended lawsuit claims that subsidies for Oklahoma residents to purchase insurance cannot be offered on a federally-operated exchange. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has previously explained why this argument rests on a distorted and incorrect reading of the ACA. David Blatt’s Journal Record column discusses how the Affordable Care Act follows an American tradition of stretching the health care safety net to new populations.
New census numbers show the median household income in Oklahoma were flat last year amid a nationwide decline, but that the state’s income levels remain far below the national average. Wall Street 24/7 ranked Oklahoma 10th in its list of America’s poorest states. NewsOK writes that Amazon’s deal to collect sales taxes in California may be a harbinger for Internet sales tax nationwide. The OK Policy Blog explains how Oklahoma policymakers and school leaders have been working on reducing school administrative costs in a variety of ways, including consolidation, for years.
Marilyn Hughes, the Executive director of Oklahoma state Ethics Commission, is retiring after 25 years on the job. The Oklahoma City area had a record number of Ozone Alert days in 2012. Kansans shared concerns about proposed cuts to delinquency prevention programs. Every state agency in Kansas has been ordered to reduce its budget by 10 percent to cover a shortfall from large income tax cuts passed earlier this year.
The Number of the Day is the percentage of total U.S. oil production annually that is produced in Oklahoma. In today’s Policy Note, The Crime Report examines new initiatives to curb sexual assaults against homosexual and transgender inmates, who are 13 to 20 times more likely to be raped than incarcerated heterosexuals.
In The News
Oklahoma Attorney General amends challenge to Affordable Care Act
Oklahoma’s attorney general is taking on President Barack Obama’s health care act for a second time, renewing the state’s initial lawsuit to get a fresh day in court. Scott Pruitt’s initial challenge to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was put on hold by Judge Ronald White pending a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court on a similar challenge coming from Florida. The Supreme Court issued an opinion in June and, much to the chagrin of Pruitt and the 27 other states involved in challenges to the act, the high court upheld the requirement that individuals purchase health insurance or else face a fine. Pruitt’s amended complaint claims that subsidies for Oklahoma residents to purchase insurance cannot be offered on a federally-operated exchange.
See also: Health Reform Law Makes Clear That Subsidies Will Be Available in States with Federally Operated Exchanges from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Prosperity Policy: Stretching the care net
Many of the most important provisions of the Affordable Care Act won’t take effect for another 15 months. But the new national health care law is already showing progress in tackling one of this nation’s most vital but stubborn social challenges: reducing the number of Americans without health insurance. “Beneath all the intricacies of the Affordable Care Act lies a simple truth,” The New Yorker’s Atul Gawande recently wrote. “We are all born frail and mortal – and in the course of our lives, we all need health care.” Currently we fall far short of providing health care for all who need it. Close to 50 million Americans are without health insurance, which can take a devastating toll on the physical, psychological and financial well-being of those in need of care for chronic conditions, sickness or injuries. Yet over time, we’ve made important strides in stretching the health care net to new populations. The Affordable Care Act follows in that tradition.
Read more from The Journal Record.
Oklahoma median income remains flat, Census report shows
New census figures indicate the median household income in Oklahoma remained stable last year despite a nationwide decline, but that the state’s income levels remain far below the national average. Oklahoma’s median household income stayed about $43,000 from 2010 to 2011 while median household income nationwide fell by 1.3 percent to $50,500. Oklahoma’s ranking among states dropped from 45th to 42nd during the year, according to the report. The findings, released Thursday, are from the 2011 American Community Survey, a function of the U.S. Census Bureau that measures annual statistical changes in 40 different population, housing and economic categories.
See also: America’s Poorest States from Wall Street 24/7
Amazon decision in California may be a harbinger
The ability of Oklahomans to buy products online and forgo paying sales taxes is a problem that isn’t going away, former Gov. Brad Henry said last week. “It is only getting worse,” he said. It’s a problem all right, for the state treasury, which loses out on millions of dollars in tax revenue, and for local businesses that find it more difficult to compete with online retailers. But government officials and local retailers may have reason for optimism that change is coming. In California on Saturday, Amazon.com began collecting state and local taxes. Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, had long fought efforts by California lawmakers to force it to collect the taxes. Last year it reached a deal with the governor to open two distribution centers in the state and begin charging sales tax.
School consolidation is not a new idea in Oklahoma
With education funding certain to be a major issue this next legislative session, you can be certain that “consolidation” will be suggested as a way to reduce administrative costs and put more money into children’s classrooms. Governor Mary Fallin has already shown her hand on the subject, saying that consolidation will definitely be on the table this year. The mere mention of the word “consolidation” stirs passions on both sides of the debate. Some think it is the answer to our education funding problems, while others are convinced it will kill communities and keep kids on buses for two to three hours a day. What’s less understood and not often reported is that Oklahoma policymakers and school leaders have been working on reducing school administrative costs in a variety of ways, including consolidation, for years.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Executive director of Oklahoma state Ethics Commission retires after 25 years on job
After 25 years of drafting and enforcing Oklahoma’s ethics laws for politicians, candidate’s campaigns, lobbyists and state employees, Marilyn Hughes is retiring. Hughes, 63, was first appointed executive director of the Ethics Commission in 1987 and when the commission was revamped as a constitutional office in 1991, she made the switch to head the agency and oversee writing ethics regulations. With the exception of a 5-month-stint under another director, Hughes has been the sole director of Oklahoma’s ethics policy under an acting commission.
Oklahoma City area has record number of Ozone Alert days in 2012
There have been more ozone alert days in the Oklahoma City area this year than ever before. But even though that doesn’t mean air quality is getting worse here, it does still mean you can get a free ride to work Friday. The 19 ozone alert days so far this year replaced the old record, officials said. The first was May 18 and the most recent was Sept. 5, according to the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments. But a primary reason for the high number is the changing standards for ozone alert days, said Curt Goeller, an environmental program specialist with the state Environmental Quality Department. Oklahoma City’s air quality has improved steadily along with the rest of the country’s since the passage of the Clean Air Act in 1970, but the federal Environmental Protection Agency continues to toughen air quality standards. “Everything has just continually gotten better. But our knowledge on how our bodies are sensitive to air pollution has improved as well,” Goeller said. “That’s why they continue to make the standards more stringent.”
Proposed juvenile justice cuts vex Kansas board
The prospect of the Kansas Juvenile Justice Authority slicing more than $1 million in delinquency prevention programs drew grave concerns Wednesday from members of the Shawnee County Juvenile Corrections Advisory Board. The prevention cuts were part of $5.1 million in reductions drawn up by JJA in response to Gov. Sam Brownback’s order that all state agencies propose a budget that reduces their costs by 10 percent. “That’s sad because it’s so shortsighted,” chairman Roger Dirks told his fellow board members. “The research is pretty clear that efforts in prevention save a lot of money down the road.” The bulk of the $5.1 million in proposed cuts would come from requiring offenders to “age out” of juvenile custody at 19, rather than allowing them to remain until 23. That measure is estimated to save the agency $3.2 million. But it would require the Legislature’s approval, and some members of the Shawnee County board questioned whether it would just pass the costs on to the adult correctional system.
Read more from The Topeka Capital-Journal.
Quote of the Day
That’s sad because it’s so shortsighted. The research is pretty clear that efforts in prevention save a lot of money down the road.
–Roger Dirks, member of a Kansas Juvenile Corrections Advisory Board, on a proposal to cut delinquency prevention programs. Every state agency in Kansas has been ordered to reduce their budgets by 10 percent to cover shortfalls due to large income tax cuts that passed earlier this year.
Number of the Day
3 percent
Percentage of total U.S. oil production annually that is produced in Oklahoma, 2012
Source: Oklahoma Economic Indicators via OESC
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Protecting the incarcerated
With jails and prisons federally mandated to curb sexual assaults against homosexual and transgender inmates, a handful of correctional facilities have emerged at the forefront of innovative practices designed to protect what is one of the most vulnerable groups behind bars. The National Institute of Corrections (NIC), citing studies that show lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender inmates are 13 to 20 times more likely to be raped than incarcerated heterosexuals, plans to spotlight those practices Nov. 7 in a nationwide broadcast that corrections officials can view live. The public eventually can access the broadcast on the institute’s website. One of the institutions leading those efforts is the Denver Sheriff Department, whose director, Gary Wilson, began raising the issue when he took the job two years ago, around the time federal officials began seeking public comment on what then were proposed safeguards for gay and transgender inmates.
Read more from The Crime Report.
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