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Five companies have qualified for cash incentives from the state worth up to $25.6 million, including up to $13.66 million for Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc., one of the largest corporations based in Oklahoma. An OK Policy Report recently highlighted the growing cost and limited transparency of these subsidies. An Oklahoma Watch investigation highlighted problems surrounding state subsidies for existing jobs.
Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill to require that doctors check a patient database before prescribing highly addictive medication. Two Stillwater city councilors say they were threatened by energy industry lobbyists that they should delay their vote on a local drilling ordinance or state legislators would pass a law that could “cost the city a lot of money.” A Stillwater legislator let loose Tuesday on a bill he says is intended to protect oil and gas interests from earthquake liability claims. The bill would create an official state list of “experts” on seismic activity related to oil and gas drilling who would be available to “assist the court … in determining the cause of any injury to the plaintiff.”
The Tulsa World editorial board wrote that a push in Oklahoma and other states for a new U.S. constitutional convention could endanger the Bill of Rights. We previously discussed dangers of this proposal on the OK Policy Blog. Oklahoma Indian gaming revenues climbed more than $60 million in 2013, but the amount of fees tribes paid the state dropped by more than $3.1 million. We previously discussed evidence that Oklahoma gaming revenues may have peaked. On the OK Policy Blog, a guest post warns against proposals to ban bilingual education in Oklahoma.
Legislation that would give terminally ill patients in Oklahoma access to experimental medications has been approved by a state Senate committee. An Oklahoma Watch video posed two questions to various teachers at Monday’s rally at the State Capitol and one question to several legislators inside. Former state lawmaker Jabar Shumate was tapped Tuesday as the University of Oklahoma’s first vice president of the university community, with a goal of assessing OU’s approach to inclusiveness and diversity in the wake of controversy over a racist chant sung by OU fraternity members.
ConocoPhillips has begun laying off employees at its former corporate home in Bartlesville due to the fall in crude oil prices. Across the state, nearly half of all Oklahomans and 89 percent of those in rural areas lack access to high-speed internet—giving the state one of the poorest rates in the country. The Number of the Day is the maximum monthly pay for inmate laborers at Oklahoma correctional facilities. In today’s Policy Note, a detailed investigation by The Week shows how the modern American jail — which primarily houses the legally innocent — has turned into a nightmare.
In The News
Oklahoma may give five companies up to $25.6 million for job creation incentives
Five companies have qualified for cash incentives from the state worth up to $25.6 million for creating up as many as 1,161 new jobs over the next 10 years, the Oklahoma Department of Commerce said Monday. Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc. has qualified for up to $13.66 million in incentive payments for creating up to 516 new jobs at its Oklahoma City corporate headquarters through the state’s Quality Jobs program.
See also: Report examines growing cost of Quality Jobs program from OK Policy; Questions surround state subsidy aimed at saving jobs from Oklahoma Watch
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signs prescription monitoring bill
Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill Tuesday to help reduce drug abuse and overdose deaths by requiring that doctors check a patient database before prescribing highly addictive medication. House Bill 1948, the first piece of legislation signed this year, will go into effect on Nov. 1. Physicians who check the database can find out if a patient is “doctor shopping,” or trying to get multiple prescriptions from multiple doctors.
Stillwater councilors say energy lobbyists gave ultimatim on drilling-ordinance vote
Two Stillwater city councilors say they were told by energy industry representatives that they should delay their vote on a local drilling ordinance or state legislators would pass a law that could “cost the city a lot of money.” If the council failed to delay its vote on the local ordinance, the lobbyists said Oklahoma lawmakers would pass a bill that is more restrictive of cities’ ability to regulate drilling, the councilors say they were told.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Stillwater lawmaker rips ‘lawsuit protection bill’ for oil and gas industry
A legislator whose district has been rocked by north-central Oklahoma’s earthquake epidemic let loose Tuesday on a bill he says is intended to protect oil and gas interests from liability claims. “It is very telling that the first bill we take up this session on induced seismicity is a lawsuit protection bill for the industry,” said state Rep. Cory Williams, D-Stillwater. Senate Bill 469 by Sen. Bryce Marlatt, R-Woodward, would create an official state list of “experts” on seismic activity related to oil and gas drilling using hydraulic fracturing and injection disposal wells.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Constitutional convention a bad idea
Is a second constitutional convention a bad idea whose time has come? Let’s hope not. There is a movement across the country to convene the first con-con since 1787. The push is being led in Oklahoma by former U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn. His main goal is to convene the states in order to add a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: The con-con con from the OK Policy Blog.
Oklahoma Indian gaming revenues rise while fees to state drop
Oklahoma Indian gaming revenues climbed more than $60 million in 2013, but the amount of fees tribes paid the state dropped by more than $3.1 million. The reason for the disparity appears to be a subtle shift in the types of gaming machines tribes have been operating, reports reveal.
Previously: Have Oklahoma gaming revenues peaked? from the OK Policy Blog
Don’t ban bilingual education
With two bills from 2011 and again this year with SB 522, Oklahoma legislators have proposed to ban bilingual education in Oklahoma. These bills would have dramatically expanded the impact of State Question 751, which established English as the official language of the state.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Oklahoma Senate Committee Passes Right to Try Measure
Legislation that would give terminally ill patients in Oklahoma access to experimental medications that are not yet on pharmacy shelves has been approved by a state Senate panel. The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services voted 7-0 Monday to send the measure to the full Senate for a vote.
Read more from Public Radio Tulsa.
Three Questions for Teachers, Lawmakers
Oklahoma Watch posed two questions to various teachers at Monday’s rally at the State Capitol, and one question to several legislators inside, and then recorded their answers on video. Here are the questions and responses.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
Former Tulsa state lawmaker Jabar Shumate named as OU’s vice president for university community
A former state lawmaker from Tulsa was tapped Tuesday as the University of Oklahoma’s first vice president of the university community. The new position was filled in the wake of the publicity about a video of OU fraternity members singing racist lyrics to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” University of Oklahoma President David Boren turned to Jabar Shumate, his former press secretary, in looking to move OU beyond the racism.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
ConocoPhillips latest oil company to lay off employees due to oil bust
ConocoPhillips, the nation’s largest independent oil and gas producer which employs more than 2,000 people at its former corporate home in Bartlesville, has begun laying employees off there due to the persistent fall in crude oil prices, a spokesman confirmed Tuesday. The company would not confirm how many workers are caught up in the reduction, but various estimates put it in the dozens.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma’s Internet access, speed lags nation
Downtown Pryor delivers free Wi-Fi to all downtown merchants and consumers. The town in northeastern Oklahoma, with less than 9,500 residents, plans to provide free wireless Internet access to the entire town within a few years. It’s also where technology giant Google operates a sprawling data center complex. But even in a town as advanced as Pryor, Internet speeds are significantly lower than the new benchmark set earlier this year by the Federal Communications Commission.
Quote of the Day
“A runaway convention, and that is very possible, could be a threat to the Bill of Rights. Liberal states might try to alter the Second Amendment. Conservatives might want to change the First Amendment making Christianity the official religion of the country. There are no limits or restrictions on what such a convention could address.”
– The Tulsa World Editorial Board, writing against calls for a constitutional convention (Source)
Number of the Day
$27.09
Maximum monthly pay for inmate laborers at Oklahoma correctional facilities.
Source: Department of Corrections.
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
How your local jail became hell: An investigation
When she was arrested on July 23, 2013, in Hawthorne, California, Sierra Zurn told the cops that she suffered from ulcerative colitis and had been prescribed Paxil for major depression. She says she brought up her medical conditions again when she was booked at the El Segundo police department. “DEPRESSION” was stamped on her jail bracelet. But the jail did not even give her any toilet paper, she told The Week, let alone her meds. In a grim irony, her very depression was cited as the reason she could not self-medicate.
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Why does Billionaire Tom Love’s company need 13.7 million Quality Job money. Does the Brown family 7-Elevens, QuikTrip, On Cue or mom and pop convenience stores receive taxpayers money? Why doesn’t State Auditor have the power to audit the State department of Commerce? I thought Republicans were against government subsidies and graft.