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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 new data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that Oklahoma has one of the highest student loan default rates in the nation. OK Policy previously examined how student loan defaults compare between different colleges and universities in the state. A group of undocumented college students is expressing concern over a bill they say could affect their ability to continue their education.
The Oklahoma Gazette examined some of the major health problems and severely inadequate access to care in Oklahoma. The federal government will be taking over regulation of some aspects of Oklahoma’s insurance market because Insurance Commissioner John Doak has refused to implement the law. The OK Policy Blog shows that accepting federal dollars to extend Medicaid would help Oklahoma veterans.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson joined protesters calling for Oklahoma City police to reopen a criminal investigation into the death of a man who died while in custody. A representative of an Oklahoma child care association has sent an email to state and county prosecutors accusing the Department of Human Services and the state’s Child Care Advisory Committee of violating the state Open Meeting Act. State Superintendent Barresi is requesting a two year delay for implementation of a new teacher evaluation system.
The Senate agriculture committee unanimously approved a bill to legalize the slaughter of horses for human consumption. Cuts to some Oklahomans’ unemployment benefits are looming due to federal budget cuts under sequestration. Garvin County Commissioners approved random drug testing for all of the county’s employees.
The Number of the Day is the percentage of student loans that were delinquent in Oklahoma in the fourth quarter of 2012. In today’s Policy Note, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a new report showing that in the past five years, almost every state has made severe cuts to higher education funding.
In The News
Oklahomans default on student loans at higher rate, report shows
Data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that Oklahoma has one of the highest student loan default rates in the nation. Students are borrowing more than they were just a decade ago because of the higher cost of a college degree, said Larry Hollingsworth, vice president of loan management for the Oklahoma Student Loan Authority. A report released last month by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that over the past eight years, the amount of total outstanding educational debt in the United States has nearly tripled, swelling to almost $1 trillion. Oklahoma had the fifth-highest default rate in the country in 2010 compared with other states and U.S. territories, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Education.
Previously: Beyond tuition: Better measures for the cost and value of higher education from the OK Policy Blog.
Undocumented college students express concern about tuition bill in the Oklahoma House of Representatives
A group of undocumented college students is expressing concern over a bill they say could affect their ability to continue their education. But the measure’s future is in doubt, with the bill’s House sponsor saying she would be willing to amend or abandon it. Senate Bill 423 would require students to be U.S. citizens to qualify for in-state tuition at Oklahoma public colleges and universities. It’s unclear how the bill would affect undocumented students who are enrolled now. The bill passed out of the Oklahoma Senate last week by a 43-0 vote and then headed to the House. It has been referred to the House Appropriations and Budget Committee.
Oklahoma grapple with serious health care challenges without expanding Medicaid
Sitting in the folding chairs that would serve as their beds that night, bundled up under heavy coats and blankets, they waited for morning. On a cold February evening at the Comanche County Fairgrounds in Lawton, a steady stream of people entered the building and walked between the cattle gates erected on either side herding them to the waiting area. The 200 or so people gathered at the complex by 10 p.m. weren’t camped out for a rock concert or a movie release. They were there for dental fillings, extractions, root canals and the like. The annual Oklahoma Mission of Mercy provides free dental care and is sponsored by the Oklahoma Dental Association, Delta Dental of Oklahoma Oral Health Foundation and the Oklahoma Dental Foundation.
Read more from the OK Gazette.
Feds will enforce insurance regulations in Oklahoma
At least four states won’t enforce new sweeping insurance market reforms rolling out next year with the health law — leaving federal health officials in Washington to pick up the slack, yet another wrinkle in Obamacare implementation. Insurance regulation is a huge responsibility that’s been closely guarded by the states. That’s why the Obama administration and those closely watching the rollout of Obamacare believe that even states that have sworn off the law’s coverage expansions will still enforce its new measures — including new benefit mandates, cost-sharing guidelines and rules on how insurers rate customers — to retain control over their health insurance markets. But the feds will be overseeing the health care law in Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming after those states told HHS they couldn’t or wouldn’t implement the new rules.
Extending Medicaid would help Oklahoma veterans
In June 2012, the United States Supreme Court found the Affordable Care Act (ACA) constitutional. However, the ruling allowed the states to decide whether they would accept federal funds to expand Medicaid benefits. Gov. Mary Fallin announced on November 19, 2012 that Oklahoma would not be expanding Medicaid. If this decision is not reversed, it will have an adverse impact on many working Oklahomans including some Oklahoma veterans. Nationally 12.5 million non-elderly veterans are uninsured. Nearly half of uninsured veterans have incomes below 138 percent of the federal poverty line, which would make them eligible for Medicaid as defined by the ACA. By failing to return Oklahoma federal tax dollars to the state for Medicaid expansion, Gov. Fallin and the legislature are ignoring the healthcare needs of some Oklahoma heroes.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Jesse Jackson calls for Congressional inquiry into alleged Oklahoma City police civil rights violations
The Rev. Jesse Jackson joined more than 100 protesters Tuesday in requesting Oklahoma City police reopen a criminal investigation into the death of a man who died while in custody. Howard, 54, died in June of last year four days after a physical confrontation with Oklahoma City patrol officers in which his ribs and an arm were broken. The state medical examiner listed Howard’s manner of death as homicide; the cause acute pneumonia caused by blunt force trauma to the chest. But the police officers were not charged after a criminal investigation by the department and an inquiry by District Attorney David Prater.
Oklahoma Department of Human Services, advisory committee accused of open meeting violations
A representative of an Oklahoma child care association has sent an email to state and county prosecutors accusing the Department of Human Services and the state’s Child Care Advisory Committee of violating the state Open Meeting Act. “We are deeply concerned by the blatant violations of the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act that the Department of Human Services has engaged in for at least a minimum of the last two years while meeting to review and completely rewrite every portion of the Oklahoma Child Care Facilities Act,” Tammy Maus, legislative representative and board member of the Licensed Child Care Association of Oklahoma, said in an email to Attorney General Scott Pruitt. Maus told The Oklahoman her organization’s main complaint is that the subcommittee of the advisory committee didn’t post meeting notices.
State superintendent requests two year delay for teacher evaluation system
Yesterday, the SDE sent out a media release stating that they would be requesting a two year delay for full implementation of the Teacher/Leader Effectiveness system. SDE staff have been very direct for months now that they would be asking for this delay, which will be appreciated by most teachers and administrators. If they need more time to work out the details, that’s fine. The cynic in me believes that something else is happening here, however.
Read more from okeducationtruths.
Senate ag committee supports horse slaughter bill
A bill to legalize the slaughter of horses in Oklahoma is approaching the finish line, after members of the Senate agriculture committee voted unanimously Monday in support of the measure. The proposed legislation has riled the Oklahoma Humane Society and some horse owners who fear that what would become the only horse slaughtering facility in the United States could locate near the McClain County town of Washington. But other horsesmen including several lawmakers who live in rural farming communities, strongly endorse passage of House Bill 1999. Supporters include the Farm Bureau, Cattlemen’s Association and the Oklahoma Pork Council.
Read more from the Norman Transcript.
Cuts to some Oklahomans’ unemployment benefits looming
The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission says federal budget cuts mean a cut in unemployment payments. Those collecting Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits will lose almost 11 percent per check starting at the end of the month, due to sequestration. Benefits that are exclusively from the state will not change. EUC is a federally funded benefit for long-term-unemployed workers who exhaust regular state unemployment insurance benefits.
Garvin County Commissioners approve random drug testing for all employees
Garvin County’s commissioners gave their approval Monday to expanding a random drug testing policy to include all of the county’s employees. After officials worked to get everything in order over the last couple of weeks, two of the commissioners finalized the sweeping revision during a regular weekly meeting. In the past the county has only required the drug testing for employees who needed a commercial driver’s license, or CDL, to operate particular equipment on the job. The new policy allows for all new county employees to be drug tested and then be subject to random testing if they continue on the job for least 30 consecutive days.
Read more from the Pauls Valley Democrat.
Quote of the Day
“We are enforcing because Oklahoma notified … that it has not enacted legislation to enforce or that it is otherwise not enforcing the Affordable Care Act market reform provisions.”
–Gary Cohen, director of the federal Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, in a letter to the Oklahoma Insurance Department. The federal government will be taking over regulation of Oklahoma’s insurance market because Insurance Commissioner John Doak has refused to implement the law.
Number of the Day
15.2%
Percentage of student loans that were delinquent in Oklahoma in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to 9.7 percent nationally
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Recent Deep State Higher Education Cuts May Harm Students and the Economy for Years to Come
As states prepare their budgets for the coming year, they face the challenge of reinvesting in public higher education systems after years of damaging cuts — the product of both the economic downturn and states’ reluctance to raise additional revenues. In the past five years, state cuts to higher education funding have been severe and almost universal. After adjusting for inflation: States are spending $2,353 or 28 percent less per student on higher education, nationwide, in the current 2013 fiscal year than they did in 2008, when the recession hit. Every state except for North Dakota and Wyoming is spending less per student on higher education than they did prior to the recession. In many states the cuts over the last five years have been remarkably deep. Eleven states have cut funding by more than one-third per student, and two states — Arizona and New Hampshire — have cut their higher education spending per student in half.
Read more from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
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