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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.
An Oklahoma Watch investigated a state program that makes payments to private companies supposedly to save jobs, but a lack of transparency makes it virtually impossible for the public to verify claims that the jobs were really in danger of leaving Oklahoma. One company receiving these Quality Jobs payments is a long-time Enid employer. The extension of the Quality Jobs program to subsidizing existing companies began at the request of lobbyists for Tronox Inc., a spinoff of the Kerr-McGee Corp. that was created to take billions of dollars in legal liability for toxic waste sites off Kerr-McGee’s books before declaring bankruptcy. An OK Policy report previously examined the growing cost and lack of oversight of the Quality Jobs program.
Tulsa Public Schools has joined dozens of other school districts across the state in canceling classes on March 30 to allow teachers and other staff to attend an education rally at the state Capitol. On the OK Policy Blog, we found an Oklahoma senator’s press release about school consolidation and teacher salaries does not pass a fact check. A new study on payday lending in Oklahoma has uncovered evidence that high-interest lenders target economically distressed communities by opening storefronts in poorer areas and near military installations. Oklahoma Assets Network is hosting a town hall forum with the author of the study on April 15.
An OCU law professor wrote that a bill to put a two-year deadline for inmates to file petitions for post-conviction relief in Oklahoma would be great news for criminals who escape apprehension because an innocent person mistakenly has been arrested and convicted. Oklahoma would become the nation’s first state to allow the use of nitrogen gas to execute death-row inmates under legislation that has been approved by the House and is moving through the Senate. The Tulsa World reported that Oklahoma’s hospital network is in a precarious financial position due to various federal and state budget cuts to Medicare and Medicaid and the state’s refusal to accept expanded federal funding for Medicaid.
The author of a bill that changes a state program to ensure life insurance beneficiaries get payments complained the measure may die in committee because Senate Appropriations Chair Clark Jolley is predisposed against it. The Tulsa World wrote that we should be suspicious of ideas from the insurance industry to “improve” the program. Over the past decade, the Oklahoma Lottery Commission has collected about $500,000 in back taxes and unpaid child support from lottery winners. A request to put a monument to Lord Hanuman, a Hindu deity, on the Oklahoma Capitol grounds is still on hold.
The Number of the Day is the share of the vote cast by young people (between 18-29) in Oklahoma in 2012. In today’s Policy Note, the New York Times examined how a growing number of states are pre-empting the power of local governments, often at the request of industry lobbyists.
In The News
Questions Surround State Subsidies Aimed at Saving Jobs
Oklahoma’s premier business incentive, the $1 billion Quality Jobs program, entered new territory nine years ago. Until then, businesses only received payroll subsidies from the state if they created new jobs in Oklahoma. In 2006, the program was expanded to begin providing subsidies for existing jobs if a “change in control” occurred and the Oklahoma Department of Commerce director determined the jobs were “likely to leave the state” because of new ownership.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
In Enid, 80-Year-Old Employer Wins Payments for Keeping Jobs
One company receiving Quality Jobs incentives is an long-time Enid employer. In 2011, Astec Industries Inc. bought the 80-year-old drilling rig plant founded by the George E. Failing Co. of Enid. Astec renamed it Gefco and said it planned to maintain the Oklahoma operation. The firm received a Quality Jobs change-in-control contract two months later. So far, it has received $787,587 in incentive payments from the state.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
How New Subsidies Started
It all began with a Kerr-McGee spinoff. A “change-in-control” provision was added to the Quality Jobs program by the Legislature in 2006 and signed into law by then-Gov. Brad Henry. Commerce Department spokeswoman Leslie Blair said it was done at the request of McAfee & Taft, an Oklahoma City law firm acting on behalf of a new company called Tronox Inc.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
See also: Report examines growing cost of Quality Jobs program from OK Policy.
TPS votes to cancel school March 30; teachers will use snow day for education rally at state Capitol
Tulsa Public Schools has joined dozens of other school districts across the state in canceling classes on March 30 to allow teachers and other staff to attend an education rally at the state Capitol. The school board voted 6-1 to approve the use of the fifth and final snow day built into the 2014-15 calendar for the rally, with member Suzanne Schreiber casting the sole “no” vote.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Fact Check: Would school consolidation boost Oklahoma teacher salaries?
In a recent press release, Sen. Kyle Loveless (R-Oklahoma City) made some claims about how much Oklahoma might be able to improve teacher salaries through school consolidation. He said, “The state of Oregon has the exact same population as Oklahoma but more students and yet has only 200 school districts. I don’t find it a coincidence that their average teacher pay is $12,000 more than Oklahoma’s.” Sen. Loveless is right that it’s not a coincidence, but he’s missed the mark on the reason why.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Study finds that payday lenders center around Oklahoma military installations
A new study on payday lending in Oklahoma has uncovered evidence that high-interest lenders target economically distressed communities by opening storefronts in poorer areas and near military installations. The study, from the “Demographics on Payday Lending in Oklahoma” from Howard University’s Center on Race and Wealth, sought to identify the demographics and economic characteristics that attract payday lenders.
See also: Who Pays More? A Town Hall Forum on Predatory Lending in Oklahoma from the OK Policy Blog.
OCU law professor: Bill being considered would serve to protect criminals
Historically, taking positions perceived to be “soft on crime” has been a recipe for political failure in Oklahoma. Few of the current members of the Legislature were elected because they advocated protecting criminals from arrest and prosecution. Thus, it’s difficult to fathom why the House of Representatives recently passed House Bill 1045.
Lawmakers Mull Nitrogen Gas for Executions in Oklahoma
Oklahoma would become the nation’s first state to allow the use of nitrogen gas to execute death-row inmates under legislation given preliminary approval Tuesday, as state lawmakers look for alternatives amid a growing shortage of lethal injection drugs. The gas proposal was introduced at a time when fewer pharmacies and drug manufacturers are willing to supply drugs used in lethal injections, the primary method of execution in Oklahoma and other states.
Read more from The New York Times.
Oklahoma hospitals at risk because of ‘unsustainable’ health-care model
More than 630,000 Oklahomans, about 17 percent of the population, have no health-care insurance, according to the Oklahoma Hospital Association. The other 83 percent need to pay attention to that, because they’re the ones picking up the tab when those people go to the emergency room for treatment. Hospitals write off some of the costs to charity or uncompensated care, but millions get shifted to the charges paid by cash customers and insured patients.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: Rejecting federal funds is devastating Oklahoma’s rural hospitals from the OK Policy Blog.
Author of bill that could disrupt Oklahoma’s Unclaimed Property Fund complains the measure may die in the committee of a lawmaker he feels is predisposed against it
The author of a bill that could disrupt the state’s Unclaimed Property Fund complains the measure may die in the committee of a lawmaker he feels is predisposed against it. Rep. Lewis Moore’s House Bill 1741 is pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee, chaired by Sen. Clark Jolley. Both bills are backed by the insurance industry and opposed by state Treasurer Ken Miller, who says they would hinder his ability to link people to unclaimed life insurance benefits.
Don’t ‘improve’ state treasurer’s system for finding lost insurance beneficiaries
We think life insurance beneficiaries should be paid what they have coming. And we think the current system is working pretty well. We’re frankly suspicious of any ideas from the insurance industry to “improve” things. We can see no reason why SB 298 would improve anything, except perhaps the insurance companies’ bottom line.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma Lottery collects child support, taxes owed from winners
The Oklahoma Lottery Commission is known for handing out money to winners of its games, but the lottery also is pretty good at collecting money owed to the state from people who win big. Lottery winners who collect prizes of more than $600 are required to fill out a claim form that includes personal information, such as Social Security numbers.
Decision delayed on allowing statue of Hindu deity at Oklahoma Capitol
A Hindu in Nevada said Tuesday he was “heartbroken” that his request to put a monument to Lord Hanuman, a Hindu deity, on the Oklahoma Capitol grounds is still on hold. Rajan Zed, president of Universal Society of Hinduism, emailed his request to the Oklahoma State Capitol Preservation Commission in December 2013 and was informed that the state has put a moratorium on new statues at the Capitol pending resolution of lawsuits over the 10 Commandments monument there.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Quote of the Day
“It’s part of their business model and not something they have been particularly secretive about. They don’t want the poorest people — they are going after the working poor that have a consistent paycheck and they have enough income that they can get them trapped in a cycle of borrowing.”
-Oklahoma Assets Network coordinator Kate Richey, speaking about a new study that shows most most payday lenders in Oklahoma are clustered around military bases (Source).
Number of the Day
19%
Share of vote cast by young people (between 18-29) in Oklahoma in 2012
Source: CIRCLE.
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
States Are Blocking Local Regulations, Often at Industry’s Behest
Darren Hodges, a Tea Party Republican and councilman in the windy West Texas city of Fort Stockton, is a fierce defender of his town’s decision to ban plastic bags. It was a local solution to a local problem and one, he says, city officials had a “God-given right” to make. But the power of Fort Stockton and other cities to govern themselves is under attack in the state capital, Austin.
Read more from the New York Times.
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