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Continental Resources Chief Executive Officer Harold Hamm has been ordered to pay nearly $1 billion to his ex-wife in one of the largest-ever U.S. divorce judgments. The award is far smaller than the amount lawyers for Sue Ann Hamm sought and does not require Harold Hamm to sell shares of Continental. The Oklahoma Democratic Party has selected Jerry Ellis, an outgoing state senator from Valliant, as the party’s candidate in a possible special election for the 2nd Congressional District seat in eastern Oklahoma. On the OK Policy Blog, we discussed how after last week’s elections the number of women and people of color in the Oklahoma Legislature will fall even lower.
Oklahoma highway officials say they’re preparing for a series of weather systems that forecasters predict will bring sub-freezing temperatures and a chance of snow to the state. An estimated 3,400 children who attend elementary school in the Oklahoma City district still need winter coats, and a fundraising effort by the district is still about $68,000 short. A bond issue for Guthrie Public Schools gained majority support but fell short of the 60 percent of votes needed to pass. The district has a history of failed bond elections, and officials had already scaled back this bond proposal significantly, with most of the money going toward fixing leaky roofs. Beginning the 2015-2016 school year, a new state law requires high school students to receive CPR training in order to graduate.
A program that’s taken more than 6,000 juvenile offenders off the hands of police officers since 2010 will likely close March 1 when it runs out of money due to state budget cuts. Oklahoma County and the state Corrections Department have begun a pilot program to submitted sentencing information electronically from the court house to prison staff. Kansas is looking at an additional hundreds of millions in budget cuts over the next two years due to the continuing effect of large income tax cuts, and the state’s economy continues to lag behind nationwide growth.
The efforts in Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, will likely subside in the coming years, replaced by conversations at a state and federal level on how to improve the federal health care law, a policy expert told a crowd of policymakers and health leaders Monday. Tulsa’s sales tax revenues are showing continued growth above budget projections — a stark contrast to the previous fiscal year. An appeals court Monday overturned a court order that halted construction of a casino in Broken Arrow. Legislators are exploring a variety of options to come up with about $40 million in state funding that’s needed to complete the Native American Cultural Center and Museum.
The Number of the Day is how much federal funds would be invested in Oklahoma for every $1 of state money spent if the state were to expand health coverage to low-income Oklahomans. In today’s Policy Note, the New York Times examines the rewards and the remaining stigma of paternity leave.
In The News
Continental Resources CEO Harold Hamm ordered to pay $995 million in divorce
Continental Resources Chief Executive Officer Harold Hamm has been ordered to pay nearly $1 billion to his ex-wife in one of the largest-ever U.S. divorce judgments, according to a court filing on Monday. In an 80-page ruling following a more than nine-week divorce trial that ended last month, Oklahoma Special Judge Howard Haralson ruled that oil magnate Hamm should pay his ex-wife a total of $995.5 million. Although the award could make Sue Ann Hamm, 58, one of the 100 wealthiest women in the United States, according to Forbes’ rankings, it is far smaller than the amount her lawyers sought and does not require Harold Hamm to sell shares of Continental.
OK Democratic Party Selects Candidate For Possible Special Election
Oklahoma Democratic Party Chairman Wallace Collins says an outgoing state senator from Valliant has been selected by the party as its candidate in a possible special election for the 2nd Congressional District seat in eastern Oklahoma. Collins said Democratic state Sen. Jerry Ellis was picked Monday from a list of three candidates selected during a meeting of the party’s central committee over the weekend.
Oklahoma fails to make gains electing women and people of color
Last week’s election raised the number of female members of Congress to 100 for the first time in history, according to a post-election article in Vox. Women now make up 19 percent of the Representatives and Senators serving in Congress. Even such modest progress is elusive in Oklahoma. Prior to this year’s elections, just 20 legislators – 4 of 48 Senators and 16 of 101 House members – were women.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
OK Highway Officials Prepare For Winter Weather
Oklahoma highway officials say they’re preparing for a series of weather systems that forecasters predict will bring sub-freezing temperatures and a chance of snow to the state. The National Weather Service says a cold front expected to move southeastward across Oklahoma Monday will be followed by much colder air, strong winds and plummeting wind chills.
School district steps up fundraising efforts for thousands of Oklahoma City elementary school students who need winter coats
As cold weather blows into the state, an estimated 3,400 children who attend elementary school in the Oklahoma City district still need winter coats, officials said Monday. Temperatures in Oklahoma City began to drop Monday night and are expected to stay low for at least a week, the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Norman reported. The low temperature Tuesday morning is expected to be 32 degrees. Wednesday morning’s low will be 24, with a predicted daily high of 38 degrees. Over the summer the district launched a fundraising effort to buy coats for 6,500 needy elementary school students. It is still about $68,000 — the cost of 3,400 coats — short.
Guthrie schools need roofs and computers, but bond election fails
With a history of failed school bond elections, Guthrie Public Schools added yet one more to the mix last week. This time, members of the Guthrie School Board tried an outreach to opponents and scaled back the wish list. The result was a modest proposal seeking $2.4 million. Although the measure received a plurality, 52.5 percent, with 3,112 yes votes, it fell short of the 60 percent needed to pass as 2,810 residents voted against the bond proposal.
New Legislation Requires High School Students To Receive CPR Training
Beginning the 2015-2016 school year, a new state law requires high school students to receive Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training in order to graduate. HB1378, by Rep. Emily Virgin, D-Norman, and Sen. John Sparks, D-Norman, became effective Nov. 1. The bill states that all students enrolled in public schools must complete a course in CPR and learn the use of an automated external defibrillator at least once between seventh grade and his or her high school graduation.
Budget Cuts Jeopardize Juvenile Offender Program
A program that’s processed more than 6,000 juvenile offenders since 2010 will likely close March 1 when it runs out of money. “We’re short about $111,000 of funding,” said Jim Walker, executive director of Youth Services of Tulsa, which runs the Community Intervention Center. “We have talked with the county and the city and the state and have not found that any additional funds are available for us this year.”
Read more from Public Radio Tulsa.
Oklahoma County pilot program modernizes offender sentencing
A partnership between several state agencies is taking the criminal justice system in Oklahoma County one step closer to modernization, state and county officials say. Oklahoma County Court Clerk Tim Rhodes and the state Corrections Department have been operating a pilot program for the past two months that allows a convicted inmate’s sentencing to be electronically submitted from the court house to prison staff.
Deep budget cuts needed due to Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax cuts
The depth of the hole that the state of Kansas has dug itself into has just become more clear. It’s deep. Newly elected lawmakers will have to figure out how to cut an additional $287.7 million from the budget before June 30 of next year. In the year after that, they’ll have to cut an additional $435.7 million. And the Kansas economy is expected to lag behind nationwide growth in the coming year.
Read more from the Kansas City Star.
Expert visits Oklahoma to discuss future of health care reform
The efforts in Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, will likely subside in the coming years, replaced by conversations at a state and federal level on how to improve the much-debated federal health care law, a policy expert told a crowd of policymakers and health leaders Monday.Lawrence Jacobs, a political science professor and director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota, addressed a crowd of about 100 health leaders, lawmakers and residents Monday at a lecture in Oklahoma City, laying out what trends people can expect to see in health care reform over the next few years.
City sales tax revenues 2.2 percent ahead of last year’s pace
Tulsa’s sales tax revenues, announced Monday, show continued growth above budget projections — a stark contrast to the previous fiscal year. The city’s November sales tax check, representing sales tax collections from mid-September through mid-October, was 2.2 percent higher than the same period last year and 5 percent above budget estimates.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Court overturns order halting Broken Arrow casino
An appeals court Monday overturned a court order that halted construction of a casino in Broken Arrow. But the future of the proposed Red Clay Casino at Florence (111th) Street and Olive (129th East) Avenue isn’t immediately clear. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 against the state of Oklahoma, which obtained the order halting the casino in 2012 from U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell in Tulsa. “The State is clearly precluded … from suing the defendant tribal officials in federal court for purported violations of the Tribal-State Gaming Compact,” the judges wrote in a 22-page decision.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma panel examines Indian museum funding
Legislators are exploring a variety of options to come up with about $40 million in state funding that’s needed to complete a planned Native American museum that remains unfinished in Oklahoma City. A Senate budget committee heard presentations on Monday from construction experts who say about $80 million is needed to complete the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum along the banks of the Oklahoma River.
Quote of the Day
“The sense of ‘Grab your pitchfork, and let’s take out the Affordable Care Act,’ that’s no longer there. As people get these benefits, as we move to 50 million people covered, knowledge about the program goes up, and it becomes less about Obamacare and this very abstract polarized headache called health care reform, and more about, ‘Wow, my kid’s going to get health insurance coverage after she leaves home.’”
-Dr. Lawrence Jacobs, a health care policy expert speaking at an event hosted by OK Policy and the Oklahoma Scholars Strategy Network on the future of health care reform (Source: http://bit.ly/1yub7AC)
Number of the Day
$13.41
Federal funds that would be invested in Oklahoma for every $1 of state money spent if the state were to expand health coverage to low-income Oklahomans
Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Paternity Leave: The Rewards and the Remaining Stigma
Five months after Todd Bedrick’s daughter was born, he took some time off from his job as an accountant. The company he works for, Ernst & Young, offered paid paternity leave, and he decided to take six weeks — the maximum amount — when his wife, Sarah, went back to teaching. He learned how to lull the fitful baby to sleep on his chest and then to sit very still for an hour to avoid waking her. He developed an elaborate system for freezing and thawing his wife’s pumped breast milk. And each day at lunchtime, he drove his daughter to the elementary school where Sarah teaches so she could nurse. When she came home at the end of the day, he handed over the baby and collapsed on the couch. “The best part was just forming the bond with her,” said Mr. Bedrick, who lives in Portland, Ore., and went back to work in June. “Had I not had that time with her, I don’t think I’d feel as close to her as I do today.”
Read more from The New York Times.
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