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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.
A bill that would allow the use of nitrogen gas in executions has cleared the Senate and is headed to the Governor’s desk. State attorneys have filed a brief with the US Supreme Court arguing that its execution process is “the most humane form of execution available to the state” in response to filings on behalf from a number of Oklahoma death row inmates arguing that Oklahoma’s execution method is cruel and unusual. Studies show that the death penalty imposes significant costs to states and has no deterrent effect on crime. A House committee approved a measure that would direct the Legislature to dedicate every other year exclusively to writing a state budget. A representative from the Oklahoma Food Cooperative, which supports local farmers and producers, wrote that a “right to farm” amendment to the state constitution would open the door to poor agricultural management practices by industrial agriculture conglomerates.
On the OK Policy Blog, a teacher from Tulsa Public Schools shared the story of what he encountered while speaking to legislators at the Capitol. The Tulsa World’s Wayne Greene discussed which state agencies will come out the better and which the worse as the legislature contends with a $611 million budget shortfall. We have options for a balanced approach to close the budget gap. Arnold Hamilton wrote in his Journal Record column that state government actions will benefit the rich and leave low-income Oklahomans worse off than they were before. A recent state court of appeals decision ruling that adults tried for crimes committed in their youth must be tried and sentenced as adults could violate the 8th Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
Oklahoma college students met with the state Regents for Higher Education to ask them to keep tuition increases down. Emails obtained by EnergyWire show that Continental Resources founder and CEO Harold Hamm met with OU President David Boren in 2011 after a university employee wrote a report linking some earthquakes to fracking. Data shows that wait times for VA appointments in Oklahoma are well below the national average, although clinics in Tulsa and Vinita exceeded the national average. Ginnie Graham wrote in the Tulsa World that access to long-acting reversible contraception is the key to preventing teen pregnancy. In a new blog post, Rob Miller argued that a lack of quality control in writing, printing and distributing tests could endanger educators.
A dozen former inmates of a Tulsa halfway house have filed a lawsuit alleging that the facility forced inmates to participate in “gladiator-style” fighting, ran a drug ring, and manipulated urinalysis testing. Lawton is seeking permission from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board to hire a cloud-seeding company to increase rainfall in the area. StateImpact spoke to a Caddo County rancher who has transitioned to wind farming. The Number of the Day is 73rd – Oklahoma City’s rank among the nation’s 100 largest metros for resident well-being, according to a Gallup survey. Tulsa was ranked 56th. In today’s Policy Note, new analysis from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds that states expanding their Medicaid programs have seen significant budget savings and revenue gains without reducing services.
In The News
State Senate passes measure to add nitrogen gas to Oklahoma execution arsenal
A bill allowing the use of nitrogen gas in executions is headed to the desk of Gov. Mary Fallin. The Senate on Thursday passed House Bill 1879, by Rep. Mike Christian, R-Oklahoma City, and Sen. Anthony Sykes, R-Moore, by a vote of 41-0.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma tells Supreme Court it uses ‘most humane form of execution available’
Attorneys for Oklahoma argued its execution process is “the most humane form of execution available to the state” in a filing with the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday. The brief was filed by the state’s attorneys in response to filings on behalf of a group of death row inmates who allege Oklahoma’s execution method is cruel and unusual.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: Does the death penalty cost more than it’s worth? from the OK Policy Blog.
House Committee Approves Budget-Only Session Measure
Oklahoma voters would decide if the Legislature should dedicate every other year exclusively to writing a state budget under a measure approved by a House committee. The House Rules Committee voted 8-2 Thursday for the resolution by Republican Rep. Randy Grau of Edmond. It now heads to the full House.
Right to Farm bill: It has the potential to harm Oklahoma
House Joint Resolution 1012, commonly known as the “Right to Farm” bill, is being considered in the Oklahoma Senate. If passed, this amendment has the potential to be quite damaging to the overall health and well-being of the state.
Mr. Chips goes to Oklahoma City
On March 30 I took a group of teachers and students to Oklahoma City for the Brighter Future Education Rally sponsored by the Oklahoma PTA. It wasn’t my first rodeo. As a public school teacher, I have attended at least four rallies over the last fifteen years, including last year’s record-breaking gathering of 30,000 outside the capitol building.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
$611 million budget hole’s bottom line — who gets eaten and who gets to eat?
The Oklahoma Legislature is poised, waiting for the big reveal. A lot of the red-meat legislation (Let’s kill AP history!) has gone down the memory hole. There’s still some doozy debates yet to be had on policy, but to an increasing degree, the question everyone’s thinking about is: How will the state cover that $611 million hole in its budget.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: Options for a balanced approach to solve Oklahoma’s budget gap from OK Policy.
Rich play while the poor pay
The day of reckoning hath arrived. The Legislature’s self-proclaimed fiscal conservatives may have little choice in the session’s final weeks but to declare a fiscal emergency in order to keep already starving state services on life support. What does that mean? Dipping into the Republican majority’s sacrosanct Rainy Day Fund to soften a $611 million budget hole of their own making.
Read more from the Journal Record.
Oklahoma Juvenile Certification Case Raises 8th Amendment Questions
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has decided in a March 20, 2015 opinion that adults charged for crimes committed in their youth must be tried and sentenced as adults. Literally interpreting Oklahoma law, the court tied juvenile status to the time charges are filed, rather than the time an offense occurred.
Read more from the Tulsa Attorney Blog.
Students ask Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education to keep tuition increases down
Despite the low cost of attendance and generous financial aid, Langston University student Marcus Garlington told higher education officials on Thursday that more than half of his friends still have to work to make ends meet. Many Langston students come from low-income families, and they’re often piecing together whatever money they can to pay for school, Garlington told the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
Earthquakes: Hamm sought meeting with OU’s Boren on Okla. quakes in 2011
Continental Resources Inc. founder Harold Hamm sought as far back as 2011 to manage Oklahoma’s state-funded research into the links among hydraulic fracturing, oil production and earthquakes. Hamm sought a meeting with University of Oklahoma President David Boren in September 2011 after state seismologist Austin Holland, a university employee, wrote a report linking small earthquakes in south-central Oklahoma to fracking.
Appointment delays exceeded national Average at VA Clinics in Tulsa and Vinita, Data Shows
Government data shows wait times for appointments at most U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ medical facilities in Oklahoma are well below the national average, but two of the state’s satellite clinics — in Tulsa and Vinita — have struggled to meet the health system’s timeliness goal.
Read more from Public Radio Tulsa.
To better prevent teen pregnancy, give them LARCS
Teens are not getting information or access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), which is often the best type of birth control for them, according to a report out this week from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Long-acting reversible contraception methods include the intrauterine device (IUD) and the birth control implant.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
A Matter of Trust
Anyone who has served as test administrator for a paper and pencil Oklahoma Core Curriculum Test (OCCT) in the past few years is familiar with this warning: “Only the student taking the test is permitted to break the seal” on the test booklet. This procedure has been in place for the past few years to ensure teachers do not have any opportunity to view or tamper with the test prior to its administration.
Read more from A View From The Edge.
12 ex-Avalon Tulsa inmates sue facility, ODOC with allegations of ‘gladiator-style’ fights, drug ring
A dozen former inmates of the Avalon Tulsa halfway house claim in a lawsuit that the facility exercised control over its population by subjecting them to “gladiator-style” fighting, as well as fostering a drug-laced atmosphere and manipulating urinalysis testing.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Lawton Seeks Permission To Seed Clouds
Lawton is seeking permission to hire a cloud-seeding company to increase rainfall in the area. The Lawton Constitution reports that the city should learn on April 21 if the Oklahoma Water Resources Board will give them permission to go ahead with a contract with a cloud-seeding company.
In Southwest Oklahoma, a Farmer Harvests the Wind and Watches the State Capitol
Lawmakers have filed several measures targeting Oklahoma’s wind industry during the 2015 legislative session. The bills most likely to end up on the governor’s desk add regulation — like preventing new wind farms from being built near hospitals, schools and airports — and reduce wind energy tax credits.
Quote of the Day
“This is steady, dependable income. I don’t have to worry about feeding them, I don’t have to worry about breaking ice for them in the wintertime, I don’t have to worry about these windmills getting out on the road. It’s just a no worry deal. It’s been a very pleasant experience.”
– Bob Kerr, who leases land for five wind turbines in Caddo County, describing why he prefers wind farming to the traditional variety (Source)
Number of the Day
73rd
Oklahoma City’s rank among the nation’s 100 largest metros for resident well-being, according to a Gallup survey. Tulsa was ranked 56th.
Source: Governing.
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
States Expanding Medicaid See Significant Budget Savings and Revenue Gains
States that expanded the number of people eligible for Medicaid are seeing big budgetary savings without reducing services. Data from eight states show $1.8 billion in budget savings and revenue gains by the end of 2015 as a result of Medicaid expansion.
Read more from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
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