OKPOLICY.ORG
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.
Thousands of educators, parents and schoolchildren rallied at the state Capitol on Monday seeking restored funding for public schools. Speakers at the rally said lawmakers had ignored the demands of last year’s education rally. For the second year in a row, Gov. Mary Fallin was absent from the state Capitol during the rally. On the OK Policy Blog, we made the case for halting a scheduled tax cut that is adding more than $50 million to next year’s budget shortfall and was never meant to take effect in these conditions.
A lawsuit now before the Oklahoma Supreme Court will decide if energy companies can be forced to pay for damages from earthquakes that are linked to oil-and-gas activity. StateImpact Oklahoma discussed evidence that University of Oklahoma President David Boren and Continental Resources Chairman Harold Hamm had sought to intimidate a geologist investigating the link between earthquakes and the energy industry. In a response much different from Oklahoma’s, Kansas officials declared earthquakes in two counties “an immediate threat to public health, safety and welfare” and ordered dramatic reductions in the volume of oil- and gas-production wastewater being injected underground.
A legislative committee declined to support a bill that would require notification of the state Board of Education when a teacher is fired after being accused of a crime. State Treasurer Ken Miller has announced an initiative to bring a Web-based financial education program to high school students across the state through a partnership with private company EverFi. An Oklahoma City “dinner club” is fighting a cease and desist order from the state Health Department, which stated the club’s owners were operating without a license as a food establishment.
OU President Boren said members of a University of Oklahoma fraternity apparently learned a racist chant that recently got their chapter disbanded during a cruise that was sponsored by the fraternity’s national administration. The fraternity’s national president criticized Boren in a letter posted on Facebook. The US Justice Department is suing Southeastern Oklahoma State University on behalf of a transgender woman fired from her teaching job after an administrator said her “lifestyle” offended him.
The Number of the Day is the percentage of Oklahoma’s 77 counties that saw population growth between 2013 and 2014. In today’s Policy Note, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows that in four out of five states with major income tax cuts in recent years, private-sector job growth has been slower than in the U.S. as a whole.
In The News
Thousands rally at Oklahoma Capitol for education funding
Thousands of educators, parents and schoolchildren rallied at the state Capitol on Monday seeking a big boost in funding for public schools, but that goal will be a challenge for legislators facing a $611 million hole in the state budget. Wearing T-shirts from their hometown schools, attendees wandered the halls of the Capitol and congregated outside legislators’ offices to talk about the importance of more education money.
Read more from the Associated Press.
See also: Keith Ballard tells thousands rallying at Capitol for education that not all legislators ‘get it’ from the Tulsa World; Gov. Mary Fallin not at Capitol during education rally — again from the Tulsa World
Halt the tax cut
Faced with a $611 million budget shortfall, elected leaders have many tough decisions to make. But one decision should be easy: halting a tax cut that was never meant to take effect in these conditions. When the tax cut passed, House Speaker Jeff Hickman commented, “This measures provides a responsible means to lower the tax burden on our citizens, while making sure there is sufficient revenue growth to fund core government services.” (emphasis added) Yet somehow, we’ve ended up in the precise situation that legislators who crafted and supported last year’s bill promised to avoid.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Energy’s New Legal Threat: Earthquake Suits
After an earthquake toppled her chimney, sending rocks crashing through the roof and onto her legs, Sandra Ladra didn’t blame an act of God. She sued two energy companies, alleging they triggered the 2011 quake by injecting wastewater from drilling deep into the ground. Ms. Ladra’s lawsuit, now before the Oklahoma Supreme Court, highlights an emerging liability question for energy companies: Can they be forced to pay for damages from earthquakes if the tremors can be linked to oil-and-gas activity?
Read more from the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
Oil Executive’s Meeting With Oklahoma Seismologist: Conversation or Intimidation?
In November 2013, Oklahoma state seismologist Austin Holland was called into a meeting with University of Oklahoma President David Boren and Continental Resources Chairman and oil billionaire Harold Hamm, EnergyWire’s Mike Sorgahan reported earlier this month. In past interviews, Holland has complained of the oil industry’s attempts to “influence his work,” and in a new Bloomberg story he describes the meeting with Boren and Hamm as “just a little bit intimidating.”
Read more from StateImpact Oklahoma.
Kansas declares earthquakes ‘an immediate threat’ in passing new energy restrictions
While earthquakes don’t stop at the invisible border between Kansas and Oklahoma, the two states have taken decidedly different approaches to stopping the earthquakes. Kansas officials declared earthquakes in two counties “an immediate threat to public health, safety and welfare” following a complaint hearing March 18, records show. The Kansas Corporation Commission ordered operators of disposal wells in parts of two counties to dramatically reduce the volume of oil- and gas-production wastewater they were pumping underground.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma House committee stops bill on reporting teacher misconduct
A legislative committee declined to support a bill Monday that would require notification of the state Board of Education when a teacher is fired after being accused of a crime. The legislation aimed to ensure teachers fired for serious accusations, such as rape, can’t keep that information secret when applying to a new school district. State schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister has opposed the bill, saying investigating teachers is law enforcement’s job.
Financial education initiative offered
State Treasurer Ken Miller has announced an initiative to bring a Web-based financial education program to high school students across the state through a partnership with EverFi. The treasurer’s office will work with businesses and financial institutions to bring this program to local students at no cost to schools or taxpayers. EverFi’s high school course offers six hours of programming with 10 units in financial topics including credit scores, insurance, credit cards, student loans, mortgages, taxes, stocks, savings and 401(k) plans.
Read more from the Journal Record (subscription required).
Oklahoma City dinner club disputes state health department order to close
In a bustling kitchen at the edge of the Plaza District in Oklahoma City, four men in aprons prepare an 18-course meal. It is a dinner club called Nani, and it operates out of the bottom floor of the very home of some of its staff. In February, the state Health Department issued Nani a cease and desist order, stating its owners were operating without a license as a food establishment. The case is ongoing, pending an appeal hearing.
OU fraternity’s racist chant tied to national SAE event, school says
Members of a University of Oklahoma fraternity apparently learned a racist chant that recently got their chapter disbanded during a national leadership cruise that was sponsored by the fraternity’s national administration, the university’s president said Friday. President David Boren said the school interviewed more than 160 people during its investigation into members of its now-defunct Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter who were captured on video taking part in the chant, which included references to lynching, a racial slur and the promise that the fraternity would never accept a black member.
Read more from the Dallas Morning News.
See also: SAE national president criticizes Boren in Facebook post from the OU Daily
Justice Department sues Southeastern Oklahoma State University for firing transgender teacher
The Justice Department sued Southeastern Oklahoma State University on Monday on behalf of a transgender woman fired from her teaching job after an administrator said her “lifestyle” offended him. The lawsuit, filed in Oklahoma City federal court, claims the university discriminated against Rachel Tudor on the basis of her sex and retaliated against her when she complained about the discrimination.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Quote of the Day
“I like to think that we are all seeds planted into the soil of public education, until we get covered with the cement mixtures of EOIs, unfunded classes, and overstressed teachers. And how a few of us, the ones who fight through that adversity, see the light through the cracks of the cement, manage to have some type of growth. And what a glorious sight, right? A few trees going through the concrete. Well, looks can be deceiving because it’s not worth the hundreds, no, thousands that get left behind. For there is strength in numbers. It’s easy to remove a tree, but it takes an army to take on a forest.”
-Mustang High School student Kiante Miles, reading his poem during Monday’s education rally at the state Capitol (Source).
Number of the Day
50.6%
Percentage of Oklahoma’s 77 counties that saw population growth between 2013 and 2014.
Source: Pew Charitable Trusts
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Fact Sheet: Big Cuts in State Income Taxes Not Yielding Promised Benefits
Five states — Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin — have cut personal income taxes by large amounts in recent years in hopes of boosting their economies. Four of the fi ve states — all but North Carolina — have seen slower private-sector job growth than the U.S. as a whole since their tax cuts took eff ect. That’s not surprising: the heavy majority of recent studies by economists fi nd that state personal income tax levels are insignifi cant to economic growth.
Read more from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
