OKPOLICY.ORG
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. E-mail your suggestions for In The Know items to gperry@okpolicy.org. You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
Today you should know that the Oklahoma Supreme Court is considering whether to get involved in determining who won the state House District 71 race. Most incumbent state legislators will be running unopposed in the 2012 elections. The first attempt to override a veto by Gov. Mary Fallin since she took office last year was derailed by Speaker Steele. The vetoed bill would have given liability protection to mobile home park operators who allowed residents to take shelter in their office during severe weather.
The Tulsa school board unanimously called on state lawmakers Monday to restore public education funding to 2007-08 levels. The OK Policy Blog shared a video with highlights from our recent forum of Oklahoma economists, economic developers, and budget experts discussing plans to reduce or eliminate the state income tax. The next installment of the Practice and Policy Lecture Series will present Oklahoma’s plan to improve child welfare services.
The Tulsa shooting spree suspects pleaded not guilty, and suspect Jake England said that he has no ill-will towards black people. StateImpact Oklahoma profiled Cushing, OK and how the oil glut there is affecting Oklahoma’s economy.
The Number of the Day is the percentage of Oklahomans aged 25 and older with an advanced degree. In today’s Policy Note, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities discusses how proponents of the migration myth are ignoring a growing body of research that consistently shows taxes have little if any impact on migration.
In The News
Oklahoma Supreme Court asked to rule on HD 71 election dispute
A decision could be made as early as next week whether the state Supreme Court will get involved in determining who won the state House District 71 race, where one ballot may decide who will fill the seat for the next seven months. Until the high court decides whether to take up the case, a district judge in Tulsa and the state Election Board have agreed to postpone taking any action or making a decision about the election results, which remain unofficial. Supreme Court Referee Greg Albert told attorneys for Democrat Dan Arthrell and Republican Katie Henke, both of Tulsa, to have written papers filed by 5 p.m. Friday on why the high court should take the case. Albert or the justices themselves could hold a hearing next week and then decide whether to accept jurisdiction.
Most incumbent legislators running unopposed
A public office that effectively lasts less than two months has yet to be filled. Offices that last two years were filled without a contest. Secure incumbent congressmen must hit the campaign trail. And two legislative candidates will take office without ever having run a campaign. These are the headlines from the state’s election filing period. Moving the primary from July to June (not so long ago it was in August) advanced the filing period to the second week of April. We thought the big story would be the turmoil of lawmakers having to campaign while the Legislature was in session. Instead, the headlines are on the number of incumbents who drew no opponents — nearly 60 percent of House members and about a third of senators. Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, one of the most controversial lawmakers, did draw an opponent — from within her own party.
House speaker thwarts veto override attempt
The first attempt to override a veto by Republican Gov. Mary Fallin since she took office last year was derailed Monday when the leader of the GOP-controlled House stepped in and blocked the move. Rep. Eric Proctor, author of House Bill 2296, said later he would try again Tuesday to override the veto. Proctor, D-Tulsa, said he was disappointed by the governor’s veto of HB 2296, which would have given liability protection to mobile home park operators who allowed residents to take shelter in their office during severe weather. Fallin said she vetoed the measure Friday because by lifting liability for mobile home park owners, the bill treats one group of business owners differently from all other business owners. “Relieving these owners from negligent liability does not encourage businesses to provide a safe environment,” she wrote in her veto message. Proctor said the bill was requested by an elderly constituent who sought shelter in her mobile home park’s office during a tornado, but was turned away because of liability concerns.
Tulsa school board calls on Legislature to restore funding
The Tulsa school board unanimously called on state lawmakers Monday to cough up enough money to restore public education funding to 2007-08 levels. Tulsa Public Schools is in the process of slashing 150 teaching positions from its ranks for the next academic year – the latest in a three-year string of budget cuts that already amount to more than $23 million. For every $50 million the state Legislature adds back into the school funding formula, Tulsa Public Schools would receive approximately $3.25 million, which it would use to retain teachers and prevent additional class-size increases, school board President Gary Percefull said. Two factors are driving the cuts in Tulsa Public Schools: the expiration of $7.6 million in federal Jobs Bill funding that was intended to help schools throughout the country avoid layoffs until state revenues rebounded from the recession, and a decrease of about 485 students in the forecast enrollment for the fall semester.
Read more from The Tulsa World.
Watch this: Is eliminating the income tax the silver bullet or fool’s gold?
On April 5, OK Policy sponsored a forum of leading Oklahoma economists, economic developers, and budget experts to discuss plans to reduce or eliminate the state income tax. The eight speakers exposed fundamental flaws in the research being used to justify eliminating the income tax, explained what’s really needed for sustained economic growth in Oklahoma, and set out the dangers that further tax cuts pose to our fiscal stability and economic prosperity. We’ve compiled a 10-minute highlight reel, embedded below, with clips from each of the speakers.
Watch the video from the OK Policy Blog.
Upcoming Event: An Improvement Plan for OKDHS Child Welfare Services
The next installment of the Practice and Policy Lecture Series, sponsored in part by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS), will present Oklahoma’s plan to improve child welfare services. On Friday April 20th, Deborah Smith, Director of OKDHS Children and Family Services, will summarize the efforts planned to improve outcomes for Oklahoma’s 8,000 children in foster care including improving safety, increasing the number of foster homes, and decreasing the length of stay. The ‘Pinnacle Plan‘ is a key component in settling a federal class action lawsuit.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Shooting spree suspects plead not guilty
Jake England, one of two Oklahoma men accused of going on a racially motivated shooting spree in a predominantly black section of Tulsa this month, says he has no ill-will toward black people and counts several of them among his friends. Special Judge William Hiddle entered not guilty pleas for both men to charges of first-degree murder, shooting with the intent to kill and malicious harassment in the April 6 attacks in Tulsa. The harassment counts imply the victims were targeted because they are black. Police said England and Watts confessed after their arrests and said they chose the victims at random. Oklahoma’s hate crime law applies in cases where a defendant targets a victim specifically because of that person’s race, religion, ancestry, natural origin or disability. Weak penalties, however, have resulted in it usually only being used in cases involving low-level misdemeanors where prosecutors want a longer sentence. The malicious harassment law is a misdemeanor on the first offense and carries a sentence of up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine.
Read more from the Associated Press.
How the oil glut in Cushing is hurting Oklahoma’s economy
Cushing is one of the world’s biggest oil hubs, but its network of pipelines wasn’t built for the modern market, industry officials, researchers and economists tell StateImpact Oklahoma. While oil was once transported through Oklahoma on its way to refineries in the north-Midwest, the market now needs it in the Texas Gulf Coast, where about one-quarter of the country’s oil is refined. Because of booming production in Canada and from oil-shale plays in North Dakota, refineries in the Midwest are maxed out. West Texas Intermediate has been stockpiling in Cushing, and the price has been flagging. Brent was selling for $16 more per barrel than WTI when the markets closed on Monday. Economically, that’s bad for Oklahoma oil producers and royalty owners, says Cody Bannister with the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association. With the current oil price gap, Oklahoma is losing more than $60 million a year in tax revenue, he says.
Read more from StateImpact Oklahoma.
Quote of the Day
Anyone who thinks we are talking about luxuries is wrong. We are absolutely cutting the bone. We are losing programs that are essential to the success of kids. We are talking about cutting languages, engineering, arts, advanced math. We want Oklahoma kids to get out of here and make this state economy competitive in this country, and it’s not going to happen with these cuts to education.
–Tulsa School Board Vice President Anna America
Number of the Day
7.4 percent
Percentage of Oklahomans aged 25 and older with an advanced degree (beyond a bachelor’s degree), 44th lowest in the nation.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Migration myth strikes again
Proponents of the migration myth are at it again, trying to sell the idea that if states with lower taxes gain more population than states with higher taxes, taxes must be the reason. Wait, you might ask. What about differences in the job market? Oil prices? Housing costs? Shouldn’t we take these and other potential factors into account? Indeed we should. As we discussed in a major report last year, the vast majority of people live their whole lives in the state where they were born, and the main reasons people move from one state to another are job prospects, housing costs, family considerations, and climate. Studies by economists and demographers that take into account the wide range of other factors show consistently that taxes have little if any impact on migration. The ALEC report ignores the growing body of research that debunks the tax-flight myth, instead citing statistical tidbits that might seem compelling at first glance but wilt under scrutiny.
Read more from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
