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Supporters of the Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture are going to make another, and perhaps last, pitch to the Oklahoma Legislature. The City of Norman and state mental health officials are looking to relocate Griffin Memorial Hospital to free up its 240 acre plot for public and private development. Development plans are being guided by the Urban Land Institute’s “Building Health Places” initiative. NewsOK reported that the practical effect of legislation to restrict Oklahoma cities’ and towns’ ability to regulate oil and gas wells is unclear, becuase no one is tracking what wells are located within city limits or what city ordinances have been passed to regulate them.
Former director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections Justin Jones will take over as director of the Tulsa County Juvenile Bureau. The Tulsa World editorial board argued against an idea floated by Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett to privatize the Tulsa County Jail due to turmoil in the sheriff’s office. The Sheriff’s Office originally took over management of the jail in 2005 due to cost overruns and mismanagement by the private Corrections Corporation of America. Oklahoma officials do not plan to reveal whether they have abided by the request of a drug maker to return a sedative used in executions that is also at the center of a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Oklahoma City Public Schools has reduced teacher vacancies by 84 percent since August after district staffers worked overtime to hire new teachers, including traveling outside Oklahoma and the U.S. to find suitable candidates. Disregarding new Bureau of Indian Affairs guidelines, the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals ruled that a judge can deviate from policies that favor placement of American Indian children in American Indian foster homes. NewsOK shared a Q&A on what new federal rules on Indian tribes and legalization of marijuana mean for Oklahoma.
Senate Appropriations and Budget Vice Chairman Greg Treat said funds that had been designated for county roads and bridges may be tapped as lawmakers try to cope with a $611 million shortfall. Tinker Air Force Base would get $50 million next year for two major construction projects under a bill that cleared the U.S. House this week. Under a tight deadline, new Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett collected enough this year from donors to pay off a $200,000 family loan to his 2014 campaign. The money came mostly from donors in the oil and gas industry, which the Corporation Commission is responsible for regulating.
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation President Stephen Prescott, M.D, wrote that Oklahoma is “eating our seed corn” with deep cuts to the Oklahoma School of Science and Math. Attorney Teresa Meinders Burkett wrote that partisan motivated reasoning has blinded Oklahoma to the benefits of accepting federal dollars to expand health coverage. The Number of the Day is 27.03% – the percentage of Oklahoma 18-25 year olds who reported using marijuana in the past year (2012-2013). In today’s Policy Note, Quartz examined how supporters of “right-to-work” laws manipulated facts in order to propel them through state legislatures.
In The News
Proposed OKPOP museum being put back on Legislature’s agenda
Supporters of the Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture are going to make another, and perhaps last, pitch to the Oklahoma Legislature. Commonly known as OKPOP, the proposed museum in Tulsa’s Brady District, has been in limbo for two years because of state budget constraints and a general legislative antipathy toward such projects. Friday, though, Oklahoma Historical Society Executive Director Bob Blackburn confirmed he expects Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, to offer legislation in the next few weeks authorizing construction of OKPOP.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
State, Norman officials look to move Griffin Memorial Hospital and sell the 240 acres it sits on for development
Some 240 acres of prime property near downtown, untouchable since the 1880s, will be developed in a huge long-term project to move the state hospital. The plan is to relocate Griffin Memorial Hospital and related state health services from 900 E Main St. to state-owned land less than a mile east around Norman Veterans Center. That will free up the hospital site for development and redevelopment by a combination of private and public interests.
See also: Urban Land Institute guides planning for state hospital site in Norman, Oklahoma from NewsOK
Impact of proposed restrictions on local oil and gas ordinances unclear
The Oklahoma Legislature’s attempt this session to limit local governments’ regulation of oil and gas drilling has struck a nerve with some lawmakers and the municipalities they represent. The practical effect of the proposed legislation — and the city ordinances it targets — is unclear, however. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which regulates oil and gas wells in the state, does not track them by whether they’re located within city limits, nor does it know which towns ban drilling.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Former DOC head to take over as Tulsa County Juvenile Bureau director
After a career in adult corrections spanning three decades, Justin R. Jones will get a chance to reduce the prison population by helping at-risk youths get a second chance. On May 11, the former director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections will take over as director of the Tulsa County Juvenile Bureau.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Tulsa World: Keep operations of the jail public
With turmoil in the Sheriff’s Office, the Tulsa County Criminal Justice Authority has broached the subject of a private jail contractor. Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett brought up the idea in a recent authority meeting and County Commissioner Karen Keith said it would be an interesting thought experiment. We hope things don’t come to that.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma will not say if it has returned lethal injection drug
Oklahoma does not plan to reveal whether it has abided by the request of a drug maker to return a sedative it uses in its executions that is also at the center of a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, officials said on Friday. Akorn Inc sent a letter to the Oklahoma Attorney General in March saying the use of its drug midazolam for executions violated U.S. drug protocols and asked the state to return what it had purchased.
Oklahoma City Schools superintendent reports record low for district teacher vacancies
While the state teacher shortage has grown to 1,000, Oklahoma City Public Schools has reduced teacher vacancies by 84 percent since August, Superintendent Rob Neu said Thursday. Neu said Oklahoma’s largest school district has just 24 vacancies — down from 150 when the school year started. Searching for teachers Neu said the district has worked overtime to hire new teachers, with staffers traveling outside Oklahoma and the U.S. to find suitable candidates.
Oklahoma appeals court rejects Bureau of Indian Affairs child placement guidelines
Disregarding new Bureau of Indian Affairs guidelines, the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals ruled Friday that a judge can deviate from child placement preferences contained in the federal Indian Child Welfare Act when such action is in the best interest of a child. In reversing a lower court decision, the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals found that the strong bonds that had formed between a child of American Indian descent and her non-Indian foster mother were more important in deciding where the girl should be placed than a federal policy that favors placement in an American Indian foster home.
Could marijuana grow like casinos in Oklahoma?
In October, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it will treat Indian tribes the same way it treats states on the issue of legalized use of marijuana. Back in 2009, the Justice Department issued the first in a series of policy statements announcing that the federal government will not use its scarce resources to prosecute activities that comply with state marijuana laws under certain conditions.
State Senate budget-maker says state will have to redirect county roads money
Non-appropriated apportionments — so-called “off-the-top” money — will have to go into the pot this year if common education is to get even the same funding it did a year ago, Senate Appropriations and Budget Vice Chairman Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, told a Tulsa Regional Chamber breakfast. Treat said at least one of those special transportation funds, designated for county roads and bridges, may be tapped as budget-makers try to cope with a $611 million drop in general revenue.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
U.S. House bill includes $155 million for construction at Tinker Air Force Base, other state military bases
Tinker Air Force Base would get $50 million next year for two major construction projects under a bill that cleared the U.S. House this week, as plans for the next generation refueling tanker continue to boost building at the base. The money for Tinker is part of the $155 million in construction approved for Oklahoma’s military bases next year.
New Oklahoma corporation commissioner collects enough to pay off $200,000 campaign loan
Under a tight deadline, new Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett collected enough this year from donors to pay off a $200,000 family loan to his 2014 campaign and have money left over, his latest contributions report shows. Hiett, R-Kellyville, collected almost $80,000 in donations between Jan. 1 and March 31, mostly from donors in the oil and gas industry, the report shows.
Nerds: The fuel for Oklahoma’s economic engine
When it comes to creating and retaining successful businesses, nothing is more important than the quality of your workforce. Take, for example, Silicon Valley, where tech industry leaders like Apple and Google count on Stanford and Berkeley graduates to fill their employment pipelines. Ditto with Seattle’s Microsoft and Amazon, which rely on the University of Washington to provide a steady supply of talented staffers.
Teresa Meinders Burkett: What Oklahoma is missing in the Medicaid expansion debate
“A Man Hears What He Wants to Hear and Disregards the Rest” — Paul Simon While 28 states have accepted Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, Oklahoma remains steadfastly opposed to accepting federal dollars to cover our state’s lowest income citizens. Today, over 150,000 Oklahomans remain without access to health coverage offered through new Medicaid benefits under the ACA.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Quote of the Day
OSSM’s budget represents less than one-tenth of one percent of our state’s budget. Chopping this minuscule amount any more is not only inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, but, to borrow a phrase from more agrarian times, it’s eating our seed corn. OSSM is an incubator that nurtures our state’s most precious human capital.
-Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation President Stephen Prescott, M.D, writing about the Oklahoma School of Science and Math, which has lost 22 percent of its state funding since 2009 as lawmakers are considering even more cuts (Source)
Number of the Day
27.03%
Percentage of Oklahoma 18-25 year olds who reported using marijuana in the past year (2012-2013).
Source: National Survey on Drug Use and Health
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
The lies, damn lies, and statistics behind the boom in America’s right-to-work laws
A bevy of “right-to-work” laws has been introduced in state legislatures across the United States this year. The legislation has generated intense debate and contention, making headlines across the country. What was most alarming about the parade of bills introduced this year, however, was how their proponents manipulated facts in order to propel them through state legislatures.
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