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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 companies that have laid off hundreds of workers in Oklahoma have continuted to collect millions of dollars in job creation incentives through the state’s Quality Jobs Program. The Legislature may seek to give Governor Fallin more power over appointing state Supreme Court justices because the court has thrown out several unconstitutional laws passed by the Legislature. Governor Fallin’s first two appointments to the state’s new workers compensation system are a retired business executive and a former corporate lawyer who have no experience in workers compensation law.
A jury has awarded families $73 million in damages against two companies that discharged sewage into creeks and streams in southeastern Oklahoma, but one company has declared bankruptcy and the other has sold off its assets in what may be an attempt to escape liability. A Republican lawmaker is partnering with the ACLU to push for legislation to protect the privacy rights of Oklahomans from drone surveillance.
Governor Fallin said she will not endorse a bond issue to fund school storm shelters and safety improvements. Three state lawmakers wrote in the Tulsa World that Oklahoma needs to improve funding for schools and stop attacking them. With Affordable Care Act marketplaces opening for enrollment tomorrow, the Tulsa World has a Q&A on the new health care law. OK Policy previously released a fact sheet sharing what you need to know about Oklahoma’s new health insurance marketplace.
In today’s Policy Note, a clear and entertaining video by Dr. Aaron Carroll explains Obamacare in under 7 minutes. The Number of the Day is Oklahoma’s rank nationally for wheat exports in 2011, more than $418M worth of wheat each year.
In The News
Companies cash in Oklahoma job creating incentives even after layoffs
Companies that have laid off hundreds of workers in Oklahoma have collected millions of dollars in job creation incentives through the state’s Quality Jobs Program. Since 2010, six companies in the state have had mass layoffs while enrolled in the Quality Jobs Program — sometimes receiving incentive payments from the state weeks before laying workers off, or continuing to receive payments after layoffs. As long as companies maintain a baseline number of employees, there are no consequences for laying off workers while enrolled in the Quality Jobs Program. The law also contains no provision to require companies to repay the money if they lay off workers, go out of business or move out of state.
Legislature may change appointments for state Supreme Court
Despite some barbs from legislators in recent weeks over the judiciary’s power in Oklahoma, the chief justice of the state’s highest court downplayed the suggestion of tension between the two branches of government. “First of all, I don’t see a conflict between the Legislature and the Supreme Court,” Chief Justice Tom Colbert told The Associated Press. “All of us, I think we have a good working relationship with the Legislature as well as the executive branch.” But several members in the increasingly conservative Legislature are growing more vocal about their exasperation with the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which continues to strike down bills as unconstitutional.
Read more from the Enid News & Eagle.
Governor Fallin’s picks for workers comp commission lack experience
Gov. Mary Fallin’s first two appointments to the state’s new workers compensation system have no experience in workers compensation law. And that’s OK, says Fallin spokesman Alex Weintz. “As a manager and a business leader, Troy Wilson is acutely aware of how workers compensation affects businesses,” said Weintz. “As the former director of the Department of Commerce, Jonna Kirschner knows what an obstacle workers comp costs can be to businesses looking to locate here.” But the enabling legislation creating the new system specifies that commissioners “must have been involved in the workers compensation field for at least three years.” Judges, the law says, “shall have not less than three years of workers compensation experience prior to appointment.”
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Companies trying to avoid liability for discharging sewage into southeast Oklahoma creeks and streams
A six-person jury has awarded families in southeastern Oklahoma more than $73 million in damages for a sewage discharge that contaminated their land and several creeks in 2006. The verdict, reached Tuesday in Johnston County, included $13.2 million in actual damages and $60 million in punitive damages. The two defendant companies, Oklahoma-based Mehlburger Brawley Inc. and Arkansas-based B3 Inc., failed to show up for the trial. Trae Gray, one of the lead plaintiffs’ attorneys in the case, said it appears Mehlburger Brawley Inc. is trying to get out of its responsibility for the sewage spill by selling its assets to a new company. B3, an excavation and construction company in Beebe, Ark., filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in January 2012. The bankruptcy became final in April 2012 after a trustee found the company had no assets.
Lawmaker partners with ACLU to plan legislation about drone usage
An Oklahoma lawmaker said the state needs legislation regulating the use of drones in order to protect the privacy rights of individuals. The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma is teaming up with Rep. Paul Wesselhoft, R-Moore, a tea party conservative, to support the legislation. Wesselhoft introduced House Bill 1556 last year in hopes of setting basic rules and guidelines for the government, law enforcement and private citizens who use unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly referred to as drones. The bill received support and passed House committee, but Wesselhoft held the measure up at the request of the governor’s office, who expressed concern it may interfere with the state’s burgeoning drone testing and development industry.
Fallin won’t endorse bond issue to fund school storm shelters
Gov. Mary Fallin is not endorsing a possible ballot measure calling for a statewide vote on a bond issue to fund school storm shelters and safety improvements. “I am not sure that is the best way of doing it,” Fallin said. The proposal calls for using state franchise tax revenue to retire the $500 million debt. Supporters earlier this month filed the necessary initiative petition paperwork with the secretary of state. They need 155,216 signatures to get the proposal on a statewide ballot. Fallin said she supports encouraging schools to build storm shelters when possible, but that it should be a local decision.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Democratic legislators: Fund schools, don’t attack them
Oklahoma again made national headlines when it was announced recently that in the U.S., our state has made the deepest education budget cuts since 2008. Nonetheless, the dance-in-lockstep with the State Department of Education continues with attacks against school superintendents statewide who denounced state Superintendent Janet Barresi’s suggestion to increase every teacher’s pay, not through increased appropriations, but by using carryover funds. The math is simple. The sound way to fund teacher raises is fully funding state schools through the regular appropriations process. Our schools currently educate 30,000 more students since 2008 with 20 percent less money.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Questions and answers on the new health care law
Three years, six months and seven days after President Barack Obama signed it into law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passes an important milestone Tuesday when enrollment is set to begin. Today, the Tulsa World will answer the most common questions about the law and what you need to do – if anything. David Blatt, director of the Oklahoma Policy Institute, said he expects some initial glitches “as with any complicated system with lots of moving parts.” “Oct. 1 is not the end of anything,” Blatt said. “It’s really the beginning of a six-month outreach and enrollment process.” Enrollment in health-insurance plans under the law continues until March 31, 2014, with coverage starting Jan. 1. Whatever your political position on “Obamacare,” you may have questions about how it will affect you, your family members or your business.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: What you need to know about Oklahoma’s new Health Insurance Marketplace from Oklahoma Policy Institute
Quote of the Day
I think that all public officials should support clawbacks, because the alternative is to say that we should let the companies take the money and run. It only makes sense that companies should hold up their end of the bargain.
-Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, on “clawback” provisions in tax incentives that require companies that fail or lay off workers to repay public funds. Oklahoma’s Quality Jobs tax incentive, which does not have a clawback provision, has continued to make “job creation” payments to companies even after mass layoffs (Source: http://bit.ly/17iOIem).
Number of the Day
Oklahoma’s rank nationally for wheat exports in 2011, more than $418M worth of wheat each year
Source: USDA
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Obamacare in under 7 minutes
In a clear, concise, and entertaining video, Dr. Aaron Carroll explains what you need to know about the Obamacare provisions going into effect soon.
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