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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 Oklahoma school districts are getting a small increase in per pupil funding for the coming school year. The Oklahoma State Department of Education won’t disclose what damages it is seeking from its standardized testing vendor for widespread disruptions of online tests, and a contract with the company was renewed without a public vote by the Board of Education. Rep. Arthur Hulbert, R-Fort Gibson, said he thinks rural hospitals will close in Oklahoma whether or not the state accepts federal health care funds.
Federal officials approved public assistance money Thursday for four additional Oklahoma counties that received heavy damage from storms. Drought is threatening millions of trees in Western Oklahoma that were planted to help prevent another Dust Bowl. The OK Policy Blog reran a post on why high levels of poverty persist in Oklahoma.
In a split decision, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission voted not to require state telecommunications companies to release more information to the public. M. Scott Carter wrote that lawmakers would be wasting taxpayer money if they convene a special session to complete what should have been done in the regular session.
The Number of the Day is the average one-way commuting time in Lincoln County and Pawnee County, tied for the longest in Oklahoma. In today’s Policy Note, Wonkblog discusses an Affordable Care Act provision that is already reducing insurance premiums for millions of Americans.
In The News
State funding for schools notched up a bit
The amount of money each Oklahoma school district gets in state funding is notching up a bit for the coming school year, but the larger picture isn’t necessarily rosy. Oklahoma Department of Education is allocating $3,038.60 per student — an increase of $8.60 from last year — because of an increase in federal funding for schools. The federal government gave Oklahoma an additional $21.5 million for state aid to schools. It may be 43 percent of new revenue, but it’s a decrease in the total percentage of the overall state budget, Chisholm Superintendent Roydon Tilley said.
Read more from the Enid News and Eagle.
State’s handling of online testing disruptions questioned as settlement with vendor nears
The Oklahoma State Department of Education won’t disclose what damages it is seeking from its standardized testing vendor for widespread disruptions of online tests, but officials expect a settlement to be announced in the next week. CTB/McGraw-Hill, the second-largest educational testing service in the U.S., has apologized for the computer issues that disrupted thousands of online tests in Oklahoma and Indiana in late April. The Indiana Department of Education recently announced it is seeking preliminary damages that will be “not less than $613,600 and could reasonably go into the millions” and hasn’t ruled out seeking additional damages, but Oklahoma officials remain mum on the subject.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma legislator says rural hospitals will close regardless of health plans
Trends in health-care finance inevitably will result in the closures of Oklahoma hospitals, a Fort Gibson legislator said at a Tulsa Regional Chamber meeting Wednesday. “There will be many hospitals (that) close,” said state Rep. Arthur Hulbert, R-Fort Gibson, a member of the House Public Health Committee and vice chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Social Services. “I think there will be many hospitals close, regardless.” Hulbert’s statement came in response to a question about whether it would take a rural hospital’s closure to force legislators to approve proposals to take advantage of available federal health-care funding.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Federal aid approved for four more Oklahoma counties
Federal officials approved public assistance money Thursday for four additional Oklahoma counties that received heavy damage from storms in late May and early June. The designation by the Federal Emergency Management Agency provides federal funds for Craig, Haskell, McIntosh and Ottawa counties. Thursday’s declaration brought the number of counties designated for public assistance to 20.
In Western Oklahoma, drought threatens trees planted to prevent a new Dust Bowl
The dirty 1930s left a permanent mark on the Great Plains. To help prevent another Dust Bowl, federal foresters planted more than a hundred million trees and built a giant windbreak that stretched from Texas to Canada. This massive planting effort was born in western Oklahoma, but many of the trees that helped save the state from its own harsh environment are dying off.
Listen to the story from StateImpact Oklahoma.
5 reasons poverty persists in Oklahoma
Poverty has been a part of Oklahoma’s landscape since before statehood. Early settlers faced enormous odds – drought, food insecurity, and nonexistent infrastructure – and possessed few material resources. During the Great Depression, the state lost nearly half a million residents to out-migration induced by devastating poverty and famine. Today, one in six Oklahomans (or 16.9 percent) live in poverty and nearly a third of the state’s counties have a poverty rate of 20 percent or more. Even amidst rising tides of economic prosperity, poverty continues, from one generation to the next.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Oklahoma regulators dismiss telecom openness request
In a split decision, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission on Thursday opted not to clarify its position on what information filed by state telecommunications companies is shielded from the public. Commissioners voted 2-1 to dismiss the request, with Commissioner Bob Anthony dissenting. Anthony argued the Oklahoma Open Records Act, which gives commissioners some discretion, does not include anything about “proprietary” or “competitively sensitive” information in filings by telecom companies. “There’s very little that telephone companies do with this agency that involves trade secrets,” he said.
M. Scott Carter: Special session not needed to fix what should have been fixed earlier
At 12:33 p.m. on Friday, May 24, the Oklahoma Senate adjourned sine die for the year. Seven hours and 10 minutes later, the House of Representatives concluded its work for the year. Prior to their early adjournment, the Republican leaders of both houses made sure to remind taxpayers that by adjourning a week early they were saving the taxpayers thousands and thousands of dollars. After the Oklahoma Supreme Court had the temerity to disagree with the attempts to put locks on the courthouse door and after Oklahoma City attorney Jerry Fent filed a lawsuit that questioned the way the 2012 tax cut/Capitol repair bill was written, lawmakers said they kinda-maybe-sorta needed to call a special session to go back to the Capitol and do the work they should have finished in May.
Read more from the Journal Record.
Quote of the Day
If enough people say this is a direction we should go, I think that’s what it takes. How many people it will take calling? I honestly don’t know.
-Rep. Arthur Hulbert, R-Fort Gibson, who said it will take public pressure to convince lawmakers to accept federal funds to save Insure Oklahoma and help the uninsured (Source: http://bit.ly/15R8k8A)
Number of the Day
27 minutes
Average one-way commuting time in Lincoln County and Pawnee County, tied for the longest in Oklahoma.
Source: US Census Bureau via The Census Project
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
The Obamacare provision that terrifies insurers
President Obama is set to speak this morning about how the health-care law is cutting premiums for millions of Americans. His remarks will focus on a small Affordable Care Act provision known to health wonks as the “medical loss ratio.” Rolls right off the tongue, right? Maybe not. But the medical loss ratio (described as the “80/20 rule” by the White House) is arguably one of the most effective tools the White House has to hold down premium costs. And it’s the provision that the White House is homing in on, in arguing that the health-care law will make health care cheaper for American families.
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