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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 the co-founder of the Sooner Tea Party was charged with blackmail over a threatening email that he sent to a state senator. The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma filed a lawsuit against Gov. Fallin, alleging that the Governor’s refusal to release some records related to health care policy decisions is a violation of Oklahoma Open Records Act. The Tulsa World reported on Governor Fallin’s veto of a bill to allow lenders of small loans to further increase charges on borrowers.
The Oklahoma League of Women Voters brought seven communities together in a live-broadcast forum on issues facing public education in Oklahoma. An Oklahoma Policy Institute fact sheet shows how severe education funding cuts threaten Oklahoma’s economic future. The authors of the law that created Oklahoma’s controversial A-F school report cards are now sponsoring legislation that would dramatically alter the method of grading schools. The OK Policy Blog discussed the promising life and untimely death of tax credit reform in Oklahoma. Oklahoma’s general fund revenue took a hit in March, falling 4.7 percent from the same month a year ago and coming in 13 percent less than expectations.
A revised workers compensation bill was passed by a House committee, despite an hourlong attack by Democrats on the panel. Officials at Oklahoma’s two medical schools worry that federal budget cuts could have dire consequences for their research programs. A pair of proposals aimed at making divorce more difficult in Oklahoma are advancing through the Legislature. State health officials said they are concerned about efforts to market e-cigarettes as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes. The SandRidge Energy board announced that they are launching a formal investigation into allegations against CEO Tom Ward.
The Number of the Day is the percentage of Oklahoma’s TANF or ‘welfare’ recipients who are children. In today’s Policy Note, the National Women’s Law Center explains why raising the minimum wage would help to ensure fair pay for women.
In The News
Sooner Tea Party co-founder charged with blackmailing Oklahoma state senator
A co-founder of the Sooner Tea Party was charged Tuesday with blackmail over an email that he admits sending to a state senator. Al Gerhart, 54, of Oklahoma City, also was charged with violating the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act. Both counts are felonies. Gerhart, a carpenter, denied any wrongdoing after coming under investigation last week. He had not been arrested yet Tuesday evening. Gerhart sent the email March 26 to Sen. Cliff Branan, promising to make the senator a laughing stock unless the Senate Energy and Environment Committee passed a bill dealing with a United Nations plan.
ACLU of Oklahoma sues Governor Fallin alleging violation of Oklahoma Open Records Act
Following many attempts to convince the Office of the Governor to comply voluntarily with the Oklahoma Open Records Act, The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Gov. Mary Fallin and the Office of the Governor in Oklahoma County District Court. The suit was filed on behalf of Vandelay Entertainment, LLC, parent company of local news and satire outlet The Lost Ogle, who joined with numerous major news organizations this past four months in pressing the Governor to release documents relating to her reversal of position on a state health care exchange and rejection of medicaid expansion funding that could have made health coverage available to approximately 200,000 poor Oklahomans. The Governor’s Office released a large number of documents on March 29, but it withheld thirty-one records at the direction of Steve Mullins, the Governor’s General Counsel. Mullins has cited “executive privilege,” a doctrine that has never been part of Oklahoma law, to argue that the Governor can legally conceal public records at her choosing.
Read more from the Norman Transcript.
Gov. Fallin vetoes storefront loan measure
Gov. Mary Fallin has vetoed a bill to raise consumer fees at some small loan companies. Fallin said the move protects Oklahoma consumers, but supporters of the proposal say they worry Fallin’s decision could drive borrowers to more expensive and less-regulated online lenders. “This legislation may inadvertently expand predatory lending practices, which take advantage of financially vulnerable Oklahomans,” Fallin said in her veto message. “Senate Bill 817 does not constitute good public policy and does not further the well-being of the citizens of Oklahoma.”
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Communities focus on education with forum
The Oklahoma League of Women Voters brought seven communities together Tuesday evening in a live-broadcast forum, Focus On Education, concentrating on issues facing public education in Oklahoma and fielding questions from viewers across the state. Panelists David Blatt of the OK Policy Institute, Sharon Rodine of the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy, and Oklahoma City charter school parent Dee Robinson — among others — spoke on the status of education funding, children in Oklahoma and parental impact on student scholarship, respectively. “The state Senate Republicans called for an additional $75 million to $100 million in state funding for common education, but their plan is contingent upon there being no tax cut taking effect in 2014.”
Read more from the Norman Transcript.
See also: Severe education funding cuts threaten Oklahoma’s economic future from Oklahoma Policy Institute
Reforms proposed for Oklahoma school grading system
The authors of the law that created Oklahoma’s controversial A-F school report cards are now sponsoring legislation that would dramatically alter the method of grading schools. Sen. Clark Jolley, R-Edmond, said he and Rep. Lee Denney, R-Cushing, worked together with a group of other legislators and representatives from the Governor’s Office on identical bills, one of which will become their vehicle for reforming school report card calculations. “We have had a lot of input, especially from superintendents. What we’ve done is try to fashion a response through legislative changes that will answer a lot of the complaints – at least as many as we agree with. There were lots of criticisms that we thought were valid,” said Jolley.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
The promising life and untimely death of tax credit reform in Oklahoma
Not too long ago, Oklahoma seemed on the verge of enacting a far-reaching reform of the state’s special-interest tax breaks. Now, after a series of setbacks, the prospect of meaningful reform seems to have vanished. Oklahoma offers hundreds of tax breaks, known collectively as tax expenditures, to businesses and individuals for a wide range of purposes. While some of these are relatively uncontroversial, such as tax preferences for disabled veterans, tax credits that subsidize certain kinds of businesses and economic activity have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Oklahoma revenue drops 4.7 in March from year-ago level
Oklahoma’s general fund revenue took a hit in March, falling 4.7 percent from the same month a year ago and coming in 13 percent less than expectations, according to figures released Tuesday by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services. Personal income tax, sales tax, motor vehicle tax and gross production tax revenue all fell below levels of a year ago and below projections. The Office of Management and Enterprise Services set general fund revenue for March at $413.9 million, or $20.6 million less than a year ago and $61.6 million less than the official budget estimate. The news comes as the Legislature contemplates a $120 million state income tax cut and the elimination of the state franchise tax at a cost to state coffers of an additional $40 million.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma House panel approves workers’ compensation measure
A revised bill that would significantly change how Oklahoma handles workers hurt on the job won easy passage Tuesday by a House committee despite an hourlong attack by Democrats on the panel. Rep. Richard Morrissette, D-Oklahoma, called Senate Bill 1062 morally reprehensible and disgusting. But Rep. Leslie Osborn, R-Mustang, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said if it would become law, the bill would “be the best thing to happen to Oklahoma in years.” The committee voted 11-4 along party lines to pass SB 1062. It now goes to the House Calendar Committee, which will decide whether it gets a hearing in the House.
Federal budget cuts could be ‘devastating’ for Oklahoma’s medical schools, officials warn
Oklahoma’s medical research programs will likely see fewer grant dollars due to federal budget cuts, and officials at the state’s two medical schools worry that change could have dire consequences. That impact comes in a state that already faces a shortage of primary care physicians — a problem officials say could worsen as the state begins to feel the effects of the cuts. The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences depend heavily on grants handed out by a number of federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
Oklahoma bills aim to cut divorce, but doubts persist
A pair of proposals by conservatives aimed at making divorce more difficult in Oklahoma are advancing through the Legislature, but some experts and research are casting doubt on whether they could lower one of the more consistently high state divorce rates in the nation. The House Judiciary Committee approved both bills Tuesday, each with a 10-6 vote and all five Democrat members opposed. They have already cleared the Senate and now move to the full House for consideration. One bill creates a “covenant marriage” option for Oklahoma and requires couples to receive counseling before marriages and more counseling if they want to divorce because of incompatibility. The second proposal, backed by Rep. Jason Nelson, would require all divorcing couples with children to undergo an education program on divorce’s effects.
Read more from the Enid News & Eagle.
Oklahoma health officials say e-cigarettes aren’t regulated enough
State health leaders said Tuesday they are concerned about efforts to market e-cigarettes as a safer alternative to smoking traditional cigarettes. The state Board of Health held its monthly meeting Tuesday in Woodward, and concern over electronic cigarettes was one of the main topics board members discussed. State Health Commissioner Terry Cline said e-cigarettes are being pitched as “safer” than traditional tobacco products. “It takes us back to the early days of tobacco when you had early science that didn’t have this great concern about the product,” Cline said.
New board at SandRidge explores allegations against CEO Tom Ward
Lost in Monday’s announcement of the promotion of a new Chief Operating Officer at Oklahoma City-based SandRidge Energy was the announcement of a formal investigation by the board of directors into allegations made months ago against CEO Tom Ward. The allegations led to a takeover attempt and successful one that landed new and additional members to the board of directors. The move might mean shaking ground for the leader of SandRidge Energy.
Read more from Oklahoma Energy Today.
Quote of the Day
Data reveals that this type of lending has resulted in widespread, chronic borrowing where the average Oklahoma customers borrows often, rapidly and at a high cost. Data also indicates that these loans are used for regular spending and to Band-Aid chronic financial problems, not for occasional emergencies.
–Gov. Mary Fallin, announcing that she had vetoed a bill that would have allowed lenders of small loans to further increase charges on borrowers. These lenders can already charge an annual percentage rate as high as 225 percent, much higher than in many other states.
Number of the Day
82 percent
Percentage of Oklahoma’s TANF or ‘welfare’ recipients who are children, FY 2012
Source: OKDHS
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Want fair pay for women? Raise the minimum wage
April 9 is Equal Pay Day, representing the date in 2013 through which women must work to match what men earned in 2012, thanks to the persistent gap between men’s and women’s median earnings. Women working full time, year round in the United States are paid just 77 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts, and the gap is even wider for women of color; black women working full time, year round are paid only 64 cents, and Hispanic women only 55 cents, for every dollar paid to their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts. There are a number of steps the federal government can take to help close the wage gap and promote fair pay for women, like preventing and remedying pay and other discrimination (by, for example, passing the Paycheck Fairness Act) and expanding women’s access to growing, high-paying jobs that are nontraditional for their gender. And here’s another important measure to add to that list: raising the minimum wage.
Read more from the National Women’s Law Center.
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