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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 poll shows a strong majority of Oklahomans support preserving and expanding Insure Oklahoma with federal dollars, as was recommended by the Leavitt Report. Oklahoma business leaders say the plan would benefit Oklahoma’s health and economic growth, while the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs opposes the plan because it involves accepting federal health-care money. OK Policy previously published a fact sheet on why accepting the federal health-care funds is good for business and workers.
Oklahoma’s Secretary of Environment Gary Sherrer is resigning because Gov. Fallin plans to combine the environment and energy cabinet positions. The state agency responsible for caring for veterans has faced multiple crises over the past six weeks. Officials at the Oklahoma State Department of Education turned away everyone who wanted to give public comments at Thursday’s state board of education meeting. Congressman Tom Cole said Republican leaders might commit “political malpractice” if they separate food stamps from farm policy to move the legislation through the House.
Several state lawmakers want to make illegally taking items from a disaster area into a felony. State officials are moving ahead with plans to renovate the state Capitol, even though a Supreme Court hearing on whether the bill involved unconstitutional logrolling is scheduled for July 9. OK Policy previously discussed the Constitutional problems with the tax cut/Capitol repairs bill. Supporters of a state tax break for filmmakers say they’ll try next year to persuade lawmakers to renew the program.
Despite the economic recovery in other states, Kansas revenue dropped 6.2 percent in June due to large income tax cuts. Sales tax revenue also dropped. The Number of the Day is the share of Oklahoma City’s jobs that are accessible in one hour by public transit. In today’s Policy Note, the New York Times shows that maternity is dramatically more expensive in the United States than in other developed countries. And though comprehensive maternity care is free or cheap for all in other countries, studies show that their citizens do not have less access to care or to high-tech care during pregnancy.
In The News
Poll shows support for expanding Insure Oklahoma with federal dollars
Oklahomans broadly support protecting the Insure Oklahoma program, according to a poll sponsored by the advocacy group Oklahomans for a Healthy Economy. A strong majority would like to see the program extended, the poll shows. The poll of registered likely Oklahoma voters found that 55 percent support “a plan that expands Insure Oklahoma if it is paid for in part by federal money,” while only 28 percent oppose it. More 50 percent of the polled Oklahomans favored Insure Oklahoma while 15 percent opposed it, with 34 percent either unfamiliar with the program or having no opinion.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Leavitt report on Medicaid options gets support of business leaders
Some key players in the debate over state health-care policy have embraced elements of the Leavitt Report, a detailed analysis of the state’s Medicaid system and its options as the Affordable Care Act is implemented. Oklahoma Hospital Association President Craig Jones said he was pleased that the Leavitt report recommends working in partnership with the federal government to fund health-care coverage for poor Oklahomans and continuation of the Insure Oklahoma program. Mike Neal, president and CEO of the Tulsa Regional Chamber, said the report should push state leaders to save the Insure Oklahoma program.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: Accepting federal health care funds is good for business from Oklahoma Policy Institute
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin’s environmental secretary to resign post
Gov. Mary Fallin’s Secretary of Environment Gary Sherrer is resigning. Sherrer says in a letter to Fallin dated Friday that he plans to resign by Monday, the start of the new fiscal year. Fallin says she plans to consolidate the secretary of environment and energy positions into one cabinet post and Sherrer said he didn’t feel like he had the knowledge and expertise to handle both positions. The energy secretary position was left vacant after Michael Ming resigned in May.
State veterans agency faces repeated crises
From tornadoes to Tuesday’s death of a board member Jerry Riley, the Oklahoma War Veterans Commission has faced one crisis after another over the past six weeks. Other major crises have included: A damaged switch that threatened to force the evacuation of 200 residents from the commission’s Lawton institution for disabled war veterans. Staff turmoil at the Claremore Veterans Center. Controversy over a law scheduled to go into effect Nov. 1 that will ban smoking by residents in the state’s seven institutions for disabled war veterans.
State education board denies public comment on several issues
Officials at the Oklahoma State Department of Education turned away everyone who wanted to give public comments at Thursday’s state board of education meeting. Leaders of the Oklahoma Education Association and a watchdog group Restore Oklahoma Public Education, or ROPE, said they were told they could not address the board because their concerns were not related to items on the meeting agenda, while an Oklahoma City student whose appeal of a denied diploma was on the agenda was told she couldn’t speak because she had a “pending grievance.” OEA President Linda Hampton was prepared to request that all of the state’s 2012-2013 standardized test results be invalidated because of widespread problems with the new testing vendor, particularly because educators are held accountable for test results.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole is skeptical of farm bill strategy
Republican leaders might commit “political malpractice” if they separate food stamps from farm policy to move the critical legislation through the House, Rep. Tom Cole said Friday. House Republican leaders have been trying to devise a way of securing passage of the farm bill after its surprising defeat on June 20. Most Democrats refused to support the legislation because of cuts to the food stamp program, and 62 Republicans opposed the bill because it didn’t cut spending enough.
Lawmakers seek to increase looting penalties
Several state lawmakers want to increase the penalty for looting after numerous reports of theft from victims whose homes were damaged or destroyed in last month’s tornadoes. Legislators representing several areas hit by tornadoes in May said Friday that they plan to introduce a bill next session to change looting from a misdemeanor to a felony. Under current law, illegally taking items from a disaster area is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison, a $3,000 fine or both.
Tax cut, capitol bill to take effect
Oklahomans won’t see an income tax cut for another 18 months, but the bill that paves the way for the average Oklahoma tax filer to save about $80 per year in state income taxes is one of more than 70 bills that take effect on Monday. The measure also diverts $120 million in state income tax collections over the next two fiscal years to pay for a major overhaul of the nearly 100-year-old state Capitol that houses the Oklahoma Legislature and several other state agencies. John Estus, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, said the Capitol renovation plan will go ahead, despite a legal challenge of the bill by an Oklahoma City attorney who claims in a court filing that the measure violates a provision of the state constitution that prohibits a bill from addressing more than one subject. A Supreme Court hearing in that case is scheduled for July 9.
Read more from the Norman Transcript.
Previously: There they go again: Oklahoma lawmakers accused of “log rolling” HB 2032 from the OK Policy Blog
Supporters of rebates for filmmakers renew push
Supporters of a program offering rebates to attract filmmakers to Oklahoma say they’ll try next year to persuade lawmakers to renew the program after efforts failed this session. The Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate Program currently offers a 35 percent rebate on all production expenses made in the state, and 37 percent if Oklahoma music is used on the soundtrack. It’s set to expire July 1, 2014. A proposal to extend it by 10 years and increase state appropriations from $5 million to $8 million, while reducing the rebate 25 percent so that more film projects can take advantage of the program, failed in the Legislature in May.
Read more from the Associated Press.
Kansas revenue drops in June; income tax cut to blame
Despite the economic recovery in other states, total revenue in Kansas dropped 6.2 percent in June compared with June 2012, state figures released Friday show. State revenue in some categories was up. But income tax revenue plunged more than 17 percent from the previous June, accounting for the shortfall. Overall, the state took in $51.3 million less in income taxes this June than last June, the figures show. Sales tax revenue also dropped, although use taxes — on catalog sales — were up more than 10 percent.
Read more from the Kansas City Star.
Quote of the Day
Failing to create an Oklahoma Plan will undoubtedly result in increased cost-shifting to businesses and untold damage to our health-care infrastructure as hospitals and health systems are forced to care for the uninsured on even smaller budgets. We urge state leaders to review the Leavitt Report and pursue all available options to assure affordable coverage for all Oklahomans.
-Mike Neal, President of the Tulsa Regional Chamber, on the proposal to accept federal Medicaid expansion dollars through Insure Oklahoma (Source: http://bit.ly/15aGweS)
Number of the Day
8.6 percent
Share of Oklahoma City’s jobs that are accessible in one hour by public transit, 17th worst job access among the nation’s 100 largest cities
Source: Brookings Institution, 2011
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
American way of birth, costliest in the world
When she became pregnant, Renée Martin called her local hospital inquiring about the price of maternity care; the finance office at first said it did not know, and then gave her a range of $4,000 to $45,000. Plenty of other pregnant women are getting sticker shock in the United States, where charges for delivery have about tripled since 1996. In most other developed countries, comprehensive maternity care is free or cheap for all, considered vital to ensuring the health of future generations. And though maternity care costs far less in other developed countries than it does in the United States, studies show that their citizens do not have less access to care or to high-tech care during pregnancy than Americans.
Read more from the New York Times.
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