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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 in the wake of a fertilizer plant explosion that leveled buildings and killed 14 and injured 200 in Texas last week, the Tulsa World reports that Oklahoma has few regulations for fertilizer manufacturing. Former Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Jim Roth was attacked by a man who shouted anti-gay slurs at him. Some Oklahoma Muslims have expressed concern about anti-Islamic rhetoric mounting at the state Capitol after the creation of a counter-terrorism legislative caucus whose members have focused on the activities of a Muslim civil rights group.
Oklahoma Policy Institute is now accepting applications for our summer internship and the first Summer Policy Institute, where 40 to 50 students from across the state will learn from policy experts from government, academia, and community organizations. A Republican state senator says Gov. Mary Fallin and her staff are refusing to take his calls or meet with a group of his constituents about plans to close a state care center for the developmentally disabled. More than 300 contract workers at the Federal Aviation Administration’s Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City have received layoff notices because of federal spending cuts forced by sequestration.
Funding from community donors for reform projects in Tulsa Public Schools is expected to double to more than $8 million over the next year. Superintendent Janet Barresi wrote that she plans to conduct an audit of all the different tests given across the state. The okeducationtruths blog argued that Barresi is mischaracterizing Oklahoma’s current tests. OU President David Boren wrote that Oklahoma state budget decisions are causing the dismantling of our system of public higher education.
The Number of the Day is the percentage of restaurant chains in Oklahoma that are ‘fast-food’ chains. In today’s Policy Note, Wonkblog summarizes a Kaiser Foundation report on why health care costs are slowing.
In The News
State has little regulatory power over fertilizer manufacturing
A fertilizer plant explosion that leveled buildings and killed 14 and injured 200 in Texas last week reminded the nation for the first time since the Oklahoma City bombing of the volatility of fertilizer and associated chemicals. Oklahoma is home to several fertilizer manufacturing plants, including one of the largest of its type in the nation just northeast of Tulsa. Two state agencies with some regulatory authority say they only regulate fertilizer manufacturers if there is a spill or emission, but do not inspect them for general safety.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Former Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Jim Roth attacked by man who used anti-gay slurs
A former Oklahoma Corporation Commission member and county commissioner who was the first openly gay elected official in Oklahoma County was attacked outside an Oklahoma City bar earlier this month by a man who shouted anti-gay slurs at him, according to a police report. The incident came to light after the owner of the bar where the attack happened took out an advertisement in a local newspaper that went viral over social media because of its plea for tolerance and condemnation of discrimination. Jim Roth, 44, served as District 1 Oklahoma County commissioner from 2003-07, when he was appointed to the Corporation Commission by former Gov. Brad Henry.
Oklahoma Muslims fret about anti-Islamic rhetoric
Some Oklahoma Muslims have expressed concern about anti-Islamic rhetoric mounting at the state Capitol after the creation of a counter-terrorism legislative caucus whose members have focused on the activities of a Muslim civil rights group. A handful of Republican legislators who participate in caucus meetings recently appeared at a press conference with Frank Gaffney, the founder and president of the Center for Security Policy. He described Sharia Law as “our generation’s most serious and, I believe, mortal peril.” Gaffney also characterized the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group, as “directly linked” to an attempt to impose Sharia, or Islamic law, in the United States.
Read more from the Associated Press.
Calling all college students: OK Policy summer internship and the Summer Policy Institute
This summer, we are pleased to offer two exciting opportunities for undergraduates and graduate students interested in Oklahoma public policy. We are now accepting applications for summer interns, as well as for the first Summer Policy Institute, where 40 to 50 students from across the state will participate in panels, workshops, and keynote addresses involving leading policy experts from government, academia, and community organizations. Please share these opportunities with any students, classmates, or others who may find them of interest.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Enid Senator, Governor Fallin at odds over resource center closing
A Republican state senator says Gov. Mary Fallin and her staff are freezing him out – refusing to take his calls or meet with a group of his constituents on a key issue. While Fallin administration emails show top aides considering such a move toward Sen. Patrick Anderson, R-Enid, a spokesman for the governor says that hasn’t happened. “I would say that they have lived up to their statement,” Anderson said. Last March, Anderson said, he had his legislative assistant ask the Governor’s Office for a meeting with constituents concerned about plans to close the Northern Oklahoma Resource Center, a state care center for the developmentally disabled in Enid. Anderson said his assistant followed up that request for six months, but Fallin was never available.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Contractors issue layoff notices in Oklahoma City due to federal spending cuts
More than 300 contract workers at the Federal Aviation Administration’s Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City have received layoff notices because of federal spending cuts forced by sequestration. Raytheon Co., a defense contractor based in Massachusetts, has sent layoff notices to 224 workers in Oklahoma City who work at the FAA training center, according to documents on file with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. In 2008, the FAA awarded Raytheon a 10-year, $437-million contract to provide training to air traffic controllers at Mike Monroney. Oklahoma City-based Interim Solutions for Government LLC, also known as ISG, has issued layoff notices to 94 workers in Oklahoma City.
TPS donor funding to increase next year
Funding from community donors for reform projects in Tulsa Public Schools is expected to double to more than $8 million over the next year. The school board on Monday approved the creation of nine new positions for 2013-14 related to a school-turnaround partnership with Harvard University’s EdLabs and eight north Tulsa schools. In all, the group of about 15 donors is expected to fully fund 22 positions and partially fund the salaries of several other Tulsa Public Schools employees who are engaged in the reform efforts that have earned the district a national reputation for leadership among urban schools.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Janet Barresi: Teaching to the test
As I meet with teachers from across the state, I hear a common theme. I talk with working groups of teachers here at the state department. I’ve had the opportunity to visit with past and present teachers of the year. I also have roundtable discussions with teachers at the school districts I visit on my Raise the Grade Together tours. I listen to superintendents in my leadership advisory group. These educators tell me they are frustrated with “teaching to the test.” Parents and community members often mirror these sentiments. I agree!
Read more from the Edmond Sun.
See also: Testing to the teach from okeducationtruths
Could public higher education disappear?
Especially in Norman, the home of a great university, we should pay attention to a trend that gravely threatens America’s future. Step by step, public higher education is disappearing across our nation. Our dominance in higher education is our greatest asset as we compete with other nations. While the U.S. has less than 6 percent of the world’s population, most surveys indicate that we have 85 percent to 90 percent of the world’s greatest colleges and universities. Students from all over the world flock to America to obtain their college degrees.
Read more from the Norman Transcript.
Quote of the Day
Whether it is the governor giving an audience to a zealot who has made a career out of demonizing Islam, or the Legislature establishing the do-nothing counter-terrorism caucus, there are far too many of Oklahoma’s politicians who are racing to the wrong side of history. Bigotry and demagogues have been with us since the beginning of our republic, but it’s our persistent move toward justice and equality that have and will ultimately define our nation and our state.
–Ryan Kiesel, director of the Oklahoma chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, on mounting anti-Islam rhetoric at the state Capitol
Number of the Day
51 percent
Percentage of restaurant chains in Oklahoma that are ‘fast-food’ chains, compared with just 27 percent nationally in 2013
Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Here’s why health care costs are slowing
Here’s what we do know about health-care spending: It’s growing slower now than any point in the past five decades. What we don’t know is why, whether that slowdown is the temporary result of an economic recession or reflects more permanent, structural changes to health-care industry. The answer has huge implications for the federal budget, which now faces threats of really fast growth in Medicare, Medicaid and other health programs. If those programs grow like they have for the past few years — at the same rate as the rest of the economy — then that frees up lots of funds for whatever other investments the federal government wants to make. A new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation suggests that most of the slowdown is indeed temporary – but even the smaller fraction that is permanent has the potential to cut a half-trillion health-care costs over the next decade.
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