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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. E-mail your suggestions for In The Know items to gperry@okpolicy.org. You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
Today you should know that Reuters examined how the racial divide in Tulsa has affected efforts to name a street in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King. The Tulsa World discussed how poverty among Oklahoma minorities is rooted in a long history of discrimination. OK Policy previously discussed why we should be concerned about the racial wealth gap.
House Democrats warned that cutting the income tax would likely result in increasing local property taxes as state funds dry up for counties and public school districts. As parents and students try to rally support for public school funding, school district officials are planning more cuts to deal with flat budget and increasing costs. Budget shortfalls are preventing Muskogee Public Schools from fixing a leaking elementary school roof.
OK Policy analyst Gene Perry writes in the Tulsa World about why tax cut triggers are very bad policy. Legislators are preparing for discussions on Gov. Fallin’s plan to fix the state’s more than 700 structurally deficient bridges. OK Policy previously pointed out that the Governor’s bridge plan is in direct competition with her tax cut plan.
As children fill up state shelters, some Oklahoma foster parents have been waiting months to get paid and others who would like to be foster parents have been waiting as long as six months to be approved. Chesapeake shares are heading for the worst monthly loss since 2008, the last time CEO Aubrey McClendon’s personal finances intruded on company business. Sen. Harry Coates writes in NewsOK about the risks of allowing large corporations to opt out of the state’s workers’ compensation system.
The Number of the Day is how many government jobs, both state and local, were lost in Oklahoma during 2011. In today’s Policy Note, Riane Eisler and Valerie Young show that despite the political consensus that we should respect the work of parenting, our nation’s policies lag way behind those of every other developed nation in helping parents care for their children.
In The News
Tulsa’s racial divide bedevil plans to honor MLK
This city, where a history of racial tension was inflamed by the Good Friday shootings of five black people, plans to name a street in honor of civil rights pioneer Dr. Martin Luther King but only the section that passes through a predominantly black part of a city. The challenges in winning approval for the move and getting it put into place — including the need to scale the proposal down to get it passed by the largely white city council — illustrate Tulsa’s legacy of racial animosities and resistance to change. “Is there a racial divide in this town? Just look at the signs,” said Kavin Ross, 49, a black resident of Oklahoma’s second-largest city whose father, former state Representative Don Ross, helped pass the state’s hate-crime law. More than 900 streets in cities and towns across the country are named after King, according to Derek Alderman, a professor of geography at East Carolina University. Tulsa was late to join them, voting last summer to rename a portion of Cincinnati Avenue as Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Read more from the Chicago Tribune.
To attack poverty, we must get its roots
The first bill to be introduced in the Oklahoma Senate just after statehood was a racial segregation measure, which suggests that our first leaders must have deemed that objective to be a top priority for the newborn state. So it’s not much of a stretch to conclude that the problems minorities continue to face here – poverty chief among them – are systemic, rooted in a history and a background still influencing events today. How our history continues to influence the poverty patterns of today is of great interest to Ed Rossman, a Ph.D. sociologist who is helping the fledgling Dan Allen Center for Social Justice in its quest to fight poverty. “There is a real issue in the U.S. and especially in Tulsa that’s been ignored. I’ve seen a lot of disturbing trends in census data, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. … Nobody is looking at poverty in a systemic way in this state, the historic, economic and social aspects of Oklahoma and how they affect poverty today.”
Read more from The Tulsa World.
Previously: Wealth and worth: What’s race got to do with it? from the OK Policy Blog
Cutting income tax could result in higher local property taxes, House Democrats say
Cutting and eventually eliminating Oklahoma’s personal income taxes will not only mean less money for state services, but also could result in increasing local property taxes as state funds dry up for counties and public school districts, House Democrats warn. “I’m convinced that when the income tax is eliminated in Oklahoma, those monies that were once used for roads and bridges and education won’t be there from the general revenue fund,” said House Minority Leader Scott Inman, D-Del City. “The counties in order to fund their schools and roads will have to increase property taxes to make up the difference. An income-tax cut at the state level will invariably lead to a property tax increase at the county level.”
Oklahoma public schools fear more state cuts
As parents and students try to rally support for public school funding, local school district officials say they are scraping the bottom of the barrel as they prepare their budgets for the upcoming school year. Their rallying cry is for schools to be funded at 2007-08 levels. In the year 2012, public schools are receiving state aid levels that match those of 2004. “Our state aid is back to 2004 levels, yet our district has gained nearly 1,700 students over that time,” Jenks Middle School Principal Rob Miller said. “Without increases to state aid in future years, we will continue to be challenged by very large class sizes.” Grass-roots parent groups formed in the last few weeks have called on every school site in Tulsa to enlist at least 100 parents, students and teachers to attend a rally, which is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the field house at Edison Preparatory School, 2906 E. 41st St.
Read more from The Tulsa World.
School funding cuts affects facilities, staffing, class sizes
Muskogee Public Schools cannot keep patching leaks on Cherokee Elementary’s roof. The roof’s deck is deteriorating, said Wayne Johnson, MPS facilities and maintenance director. “On top, you can see areas where water gathers, and we’ve had to patch the roof.” He said patching merely “fixes the symptom, not the disease.” Workers may have to keep patching. A tight budget and shrinking surplus could delay the major roof repairs and other projects. It also has kept the district from replacing some staff members who retire or resign, he said. Workers not only must keep patching the roof, they continuously replace ceiling tiles so classrooms are not affected, Johnson said. Most schools also have aging heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems, Johnson said. “We still have some units from 1987,” he said. Meanwhile, Little and other MPS officials are seeking ways to cut $1.5 million from the budget.
Read more from The Muskogee Phoenix.
The terrible thing about triggers
Lawmakers began the year promising very large cuts to the income tax, but their hopes soon collided with budget reality. With state funding already falling behind Oklahoma’s needs in many areas, legislators have found no easy way to pay for income tax cuts, whether by eliminating tax preferences, reducing services, or raising other taxes. Meanwhile, new obligations are piling up, like the $100 million per year that will be needed to reform the child-welfare system. Even so, a significant danger remains that we will find another way to cripple our state’s finances. Some lawmakers are pushing an automatic trigger that would ratchet down the income tax any time state revenue grows by a certain percentage. Proponents of triggers may try to sell this as a “responsible” way to cut taxes, but it’s the opposite. It’s an attempt to avoid responsibility by putting the tax system on auto-pilot. The result could be a wreck that everyone can foresee but no one can prevent.
Read more from The Tulsa World.
Budget talks to determine fate of Oklahoma bridge repairs
State legislators are preparing for budget discussions that will make or break bills currently on the Senate agenda to fund Gov. Mary Fallin’s plan to repair state bridges. It’s been six months since Fallin announced a plan to fix more than 700 structurally deficient bridges in the state by 2019, and three bills have passed committee that aim to provide the extra funding from the state’s general fund. Another bill, written by Sen. Gary Stanislawski, R-Tulsa, aimed to provide funding for roads and bridges but has been refocused to also provide for operation of Oklahoma’s eight entry-point weigh stations, he said. The bill moves money from the general fund to bridge repair in the state but would also extend the definitions of the fund to include the operation of the weigh stations. ODOT officials said it is “equally if not more important” that legislators provide ODOT with “full statutory allocation” of motor fuel taxes that have been diverted from ODOT for the last three years.
Read more from The Tulsa World.
Previously: Good times don’t last forever from Oklahoma Policy Institute
Assistance sought to ease DHS foster care home study backlog
Some Oklahoma foster parents have been waiting months to get paid. Other Oklahomans — who would like to be foster parents for children in state custody — have been waiting as long as six months for their paperwork to be gathered and processed. Meanwhile, small children continue to wait in state shelters. These are the consequences of a four- to six-month backlog by the state Department of Human Services in completing home studies. “It just boils down to a system that has been overwhelmed by the demand,” said Sheree Powell, DHS spokeswoman. Disclosure of the backlog comes at a critical time for DHS officials. A proposed state child welfare reform plan announced three weeks ago calls for recruiting 1,000 new foster families while eliminating the use of shelters for children younger than 13 years old by June 30, 2014. But having more Oklahomans step forward to become foster families won’t resolve the shelter problem unless officials are able to complete the home studies required for children to be placed in those homes.
Chesapeake 25% decline spurred by personal conflict
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) (CHK) Chief Executive Officer Aubrey McClendon has been adding oil fields to his personal holdings faster than he can find cash to drill them. He’s steering the company down the same road. Chesapeake, producer of more U.S. natural gas than any company except Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) (XOM), outspent its cash flow in 19 of the past 21 years while amassing millions of acres of drilling leases from the Rocky Mountains to Appalachia. As the company moved to close this year’s projected funding gap with $12 billion in planned asset sales, investor criticisms of McClendon over a potential conflict of interest are stoking concern about the stability of the company. Chesapeake shares are down 25 percent this month, heading for the worst monthly loss (CHK) since 2008, the last time McClendon’s personal finances intruded on company business.
Be careful what you ask for
A few large Oklahoma corporations are asking the Legislature to pass House Bill 2155 to allow large companies to opt out of the present workers’ compensation system. The concept appears on the surface to be good for business as an option for providing benefits for injured workers. However, HB 2155 is a trap for businesses and injured workers alike. In fact, it would be a bonanza for trial lawyers who would earn great sums prosecuting and defending simple workers’ compensation claims in district court. For more than 50 years, employers in the state have been immune from negligence lawsuits in district court because being part of the workers’ compensation system gives what is called “exclusive remedy.” All legal experts I have talked to believe that if an employer is allowed to opt out of workers’ compensation and develop its own plan for providing benefits, the horrible trade-off would be that the employer could be sued for negligence in district court. What employer would want to allow a runaway jury to decide a workers’ compensation claim when, under present law, the benefits are controlled by state statute?
Quote of the Day
I’m convinced that when the income tax is eliminated in Oklahoma, those monies that were once used for roads and bridges and education won’t be there from the general revenue fund. The counties in order to fund their schools and roads will have to increase property taxes to make up the difference. An income-tax cut at the state level will invariably lead to a property tax increase at the county level.
–House Minority Leader Scott Inman, D-Del City
Number of the Day
4,000
Number of government jobs, both state and local, lost in Oklahoma during 2011, more job losses than any other sector of employment.
Source: Oklahoma Employment Security Commission
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
The politics of motherhood
After this week’s media frenzy over whether or not Ann Romney was “working” when she raised five boys, a consensus of sorts has emerged. Both Democrats and Republicans agree unreservedly that childrearing is a very important activity, valuable to the families involved, and essential to our civil society and national economy. Now that that’s been settled, let’s check the political rhetoric against the policy realities. The shocking truth is that our nation’s policies lag way behind those of every other developed nation in helping parents care for their children. We’re also way behind in helping families care for their elderly and sick. Despite all the talk of family values, we fail to value the work of care. In fact, the U.S. is the only developed nation on earth that does not guarantee paid sick days or paid parental leave. Even more shocking is that more than one of every five children in the US lives in poverty and that our infant mortality rate is higher than all other industrialized countries, as well as those with significantly weaker economies, such as Greece, Cuba, and Slovenia.
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The Tulsa MLK story is actually from the Chicago Tribune (by way of Reuters), not the NYT.
Thanks for the correction. It’s been fixed.