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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 court case challenging Oklahoma’s same-sex marriage ban has gone for nine years and is still waiting on a judge’s decision. A federal court filing argued that Oklahoma’s attempt to undermine key Affordable Care Act regulations is weakened by recent court decisions and by the administration’s move to delay an employer mandate. The federal government filed a lawsuit against OG&E, saying the company failed to properly report emission projections before completing construction projects on two its coal-fired power plants.
Gov. Fallin is sending out appeals for contributions and holding fundraisers across Oklahoma to build up her re-election campaign. The OK Policy Blog shows why “How Money Walks,” a book being used to push income tax cuts in Oklahoma and other states, is misleading propaganda. More school officials are demanding answers after State Superintendent Janet Barresi faulted local school district deficiencies instead of a private testing vendor for the widespread technical problems during statewide testing this spring.
The Oklahoma Department of Human Services will be accepting applications for summer cooling assistance today, but they say the funds will run out quickly. The Tulsa Initiative Blog discussed why the cooling assistance is important for the safety of low-income families. Gov. Fallin ordered a special task force to examine the state-owned utility GRDA, while some of her chief lieutenants are trying to stop a GRDA board vote on building a new $300 million natural gas-fired power plant.
OETA reported on controversy over the growth of private prisons in Oklahoma. The private health-care provider named as a defendant in a lawsuit stemming from an inmate’s death at the Tulsa Jail could soon lose its contract with the jail. The Oklahoman editorial board writes that Oklahoma’s investment in early childhood education is helping to level the playing field for children from poor families. The Number of the Day is the percentage of Oklahoma workers earning at or below the minimum wage, almost double what what it was a decade ago. In today’s Policy Note, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities corrects the latest misinformation being reported about the Affordable Care Act.
In The News
Oklahoma gay marriage case drags on into ninth year
The day after Oklahoma voters overwhelmingly approved a state question banning same-sex marriage in 2004, two lesbian couples filed a challenge in federal court in Tulsa. Since then, nothing about the lawsuit has moved swiftly. Some of the major players have changed, from the attorney who first filed the suit to the parties being sued. The arguments on both sides have evolved as laws and lawsuits in other states have advanced. But after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in two gay marriage cases last month, the central question in the Oklahoma lawsuit remains: Does the state ban on gay marriage violate the U.S. Constitution?
Federal filing says recent events have hurt Oklahoma’s case against ACA
Oklahoma’s attempt to undermine key Affordable Care Act regulations is weakened by a recent appeals court decision in favor of the Hobby Lobby crafts store chain and by an Obama administration move to delay fines against large employers who don’t supply their workers with health insurance, attorneys for the federal government argued in a court filing Monday. The latest federal government filings in the state’s case against IRS regulations designed to implement the health care law essentially contradict a filing by Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt last week.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Feds challenge OG&E over coal-fired emission in NE Oklahoma
The federal government alleged in a civil lawsuit filed Monday that Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co., failed to properly report emission projections before completing eight construction projects on two of its coal-fired power plants. The complaint, filed in the Western District of Oklahoma federal court, is asking for a judge to rule the company did not comply with federal reporting laws before it began construction and that the court require OG&E to redo the assessments of the construction projects at the company’s Muskogee and Sooner plants in northeast Oklahoma.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Fallin readies for re-election bid
Although a gubernatorial challenger hasn’t stepped forward, Gov. Mary Fallin is sending out appeals for contributions and holding fundraisers across Oklahoma to build up her campaign war chest. Fallin, elected in 2010, said Monday she has no date in mind to formally announce her bid for a second four-year term. The Republican governor said her focus in recent weeks has been to deal with the deadly tornadoes that struck the state in May. Fallin, who announced for the 2010 open governor’s seat in late February 2009, has never hinted that she would not seek re-election.
“How Money Walks” has no leg to stand on
During the debate over Oklahoma’s most recent income tax cut, one House lawmaker speaking in favor of the bill waved a book in the air that he said showed why cutting taxes further would help Oklahoma’s economy. The book was “How Money Walks” by Travis Brown, a Missouri lobbyist and the President of “Let Voters Decide,” a group founded by billionaire Rex Sinquefield to push for abolishing Missouri’s income tax and replacing it with higher sales taxes. There’s just one problem—as we might expect of “research” done by an anti-tax lobbyist, “How Money Walks” is misleading propaganda.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
More school officials find fault with Barresi’s fault-finding
More school officials are demanding answers after State Superintendent Janet Barresi faulted local school district deficiencies for the widespread technical problems during statewide testing this spring. Schools statewide have reported that their difficulties were with the state’s new testing vendor, CTB/McGraw-Hill, not with their own technology. Broken Arrow Superintendent Jarod Mendenhall has made public a letter he sent to Barresi expressing concerns about her “erroneous information,” and Owasso Superintendent Clark Ogilvie called her claims unfair and said he questions “the timing and motives in this decision.”
Read more from the Tulsa World.
DHS says summer cooling assistance funds will be depleted quickly
The Oklahoma Department of Human Services will be accepting applications for summer cooling assistance starting tomorrow, Tuesday, July 9. The program called LIHEAP (Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program) is designed to help low-income households pay for cooling bills. The funds are available to help relieve the stress of the summer heat. DHS spokesman, Mark Beutler, says to submit your application soon because the money usually runs out very quickly. “A couple of years ago, when the temperatures were very extreme, the funds were depleted within four days,” Beutler says.
Read more from Public Radio Tulsa.
See also: Feeling the summer heat in low-income neighborhoods from the Tulsa Initiative Blog
Fallin plans task force study of GRDA
The tension between Gov. Mary Fallin’s administration and the Grand River Dam Authority intensified Monday as Fallin ordered a special task force to examine the state-owned utility while some of her chief lieutenants tried to stop a Wednesday GRDA board vote on building a new $300 million natural gas-fired power plant. Fallin issued an executive order Monday morning creating the 15-member task force to “undertake a full and thorough study of the Grand River Dam Authority and to recommend potential changes” to the GRDA, which is a state agency.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Debate roils over the use of private prisons in Oklahoma
As the Oklahoma Department of Corrections struggles with a 99 percent capacity rate in state prisons, the debate has heated up over the use of private prison beds to ease overcrowding. The recent resignation of longtime Corrections director Justin Jones is tied to his philosophical differences with state legislative leadership. Jones is against private prisons. Those in leadership roles say private prisons are the most economical way to deal with the ever-increasing number of state inmates.
Tulsa Jail health-care provider could be out, contract bids requested
The health-care provider named as a defendant in a lawsuit stemming from an inmate’s death at the Tulsa Jail could soon lose its contract with the jail. The county’s Board of Commissioners voted Monday to seek requests for proposals for health-care services at the jail. Linda Dorrell, the county’s purchasing director, said the decision to go out to bid had nothing to do with the ongoing litigation. “It’s just time to look at it again because we want to make sure we’re getting the best deal,” she said.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
NewsOK: Ramona Paul’s legacy in early childhood education helps level the playing field
Of all the toys and gadgets available to entertain young children and help them learn, Ramona Paul had a definite favorite. She would tell any parent who would listen to buy wooden blocks. Whether it was a game of stacking or counting or building a structure and knocking it down, Paul believed, the simple toys were literally the building blocks of learning. Paul, who died last week, was the mother of Oklahoma’s highly touted early childhood education program.
Quote of the Day
[Dr. Ramona] Paul understood that while pre-K is no silver bullet, the failure to help children destined to start kindergarten far behind their peers is ultimately more expensive. She understood that an early investment in children is a building block for future success.
-The Oklahoman Editorial Board (Source: http://bit.ly/15tvuBu)
Number of the Day
7.2 percent
Percentage of Oklahoma workers earning at or below the minimum wage, up from just 3.8 percent a decade ago
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2002 vs. 2012
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Health reform rule change will not stop important verification
In the last several days, some media coverage has seriously misinterpreted changes to how health reform’s new health insurance marketplaces (formerly called exchanges) will verify that applicants are eligible for federal health insurance subsidies. The changes to verification procedures, which the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced in a new rule on Friday, are really rather modest. All marketplaces — both state- and federally run — will still conduct important checks of applicants’ income and require applicants to provide information on any coverage that employers offer.
Read more from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
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