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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.
U.S. District Judge Ronald White, a George W. Bush appointee, upheld Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt’s lawsuit that seeks to take away tax credits to purchase health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. The ruling will be appealed to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver and may ultimately go to the Supreme Court. If Pruitt’s lawsuit is successful, about 55,000 Oklahomans will lose tax credits that enable them to purchase affordable health insurance. ThinkProgress identified serious flaws in Judge White’s legal reasoning, which ignores binding Supreme Court precedent and engages in selective quotation out of context to support his conclusion.
In a new execution protocol released by the state, Oklahoma is not backing down from using a controversial execution drug, and the number of media witnesses allowed to view executions has been cut by more than half. Oklahoma Watch reported that Oklahoma is the only state in the nation that does not allow juvenile courts to determine whether youths in delinquency cases have the mental competency to go through court proceedings. On the OK Policy Blog, we examine what’s stopping Oklahomans from voting or participating in democracy. A previous post shared statistics showing that Oklahoma’s democracy is broken in several ways.
A lawsuit seeking to strike down a law that puts restrictions on the use of the drug RU486 for abortions was filed Tuesday in Oklahoma County District Court. Some Oklahoma sheriffs are pushing back against legislation introduced by Sen. Tom Coburn that seeks to stop the flow of wartime military equipment to local law enforcement agencies. Though the bridge connecting Purcell and Lexington is reopened for traffic, transportation officials say they will keep a load limit on the bridge as they construct a new bridge.
In an interim study at the state Capitol yesterday, Oklahoma educators and other community members asked lawmakers to send a message a to Congress to fully fund a federal program that provides aid to school districts that have had property lands seized by the federal government or Native American tribes. A rally to end mass incarceration will be held Thursday at the state Capitol, with speakers including Democratic State Sen. Connie Johnson and family members of prisoners serving long sentences. Walmart is getting into the banking industry, which could provide a new option for the one in three Oklahoma households that are unbanked or underbanked. A report for the Oklahoma Assets Network authored by OK Policy examined the barriers to fair banking services and other ways to save for low-income families in Oklahoma.
The Number of the Day is how many Oklahoma children received subsidized childcare in 2013 so their parents could participate in employment or education. In today’s Policy Note, a ProPublica investigation finds that American oil and gas workers – men and women often performing high-risk jobs – are routinely being underpaid, and the companies hiring them often are using accounting techniques to deny workers benefits such as medical leave or unemployment insurance.
In The News
District judge upholds Oklahoma’s attempt to defund Affordable Care Act
A federal judge ruled in Oklahoma’s favor Tuesday in a lawsuit challenging part of the Affordable Care Act. Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has said parts of the law do not apply to Oklahoma and the 35 other states that did not set up their own health insurance exchanges. The lawsuit, filed in 2012, challenged an IRS rule that awarded subsidies for health insurance in states that did not set up their own exchanges. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Ronald White, a George W. Bush appointee in the Eastern District of Oklahoma, can be appealed to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. The issue may ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: A few flaws in Judge White’s legal reasoning from ThinkProgress
State releases new execution protocol
The state is not backing down from using a controversial execution drug, and its new protocol for who can view executions cuts the number of media witnesses by more than half. A new policy released Tuesday by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections outlines changes in the state’s death-penalty protocol in response to the botched April 29 execution of Clayton Lockett. The policy includes four possible drug combinations, including the three-part cocktail used on Lockett.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
In Oklahoma Alone, Juvenile Competency Is Off-Limits in Court
The Tulsa County boy’s relationship with family was one of instability, impoverishment and abuse. Psychologists would later determine that he was mentally ill and very immature, even for 12 years of age. Yet his alleged crime was serious – felony assault with a dangerous weapon on a family member who had abused him. The juvenile court ruled the boy delinquent, which led to a 12-month stay in a youth group home.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
Broken Democracy, Part II: What’s getting in the way of voting?
It may have been hard for Oklahomans and other Americans not to develop an acute case of election envy during the recent Scottish referendum on independence. Eighty-five percent of eligible Scottish voters cast a ballot; in some districts, turnout topped 90 percent. Meanwhile, in Oklahoma, less than half of registered voters went to the polls in 2012, and in this year’s November elections, fewer than 40 percent are likely to show up to decide who will represent us in statewide offices, Congress, and the state legislature. Oklahoma’s voter turnout is now among the very lowest in the nation.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
See also: Oklahoma’s democracy is broken and from the OK Policy Blog.
Lawsuit challenges Oklahoma law putting restrictions on abortion drug RU486
A lawsuit seeking to strike down a law that puts restrictions on nonsurgical abortions was filed Tuesday in Oklahoma County District Court. The suit seeks to invalidate House Bill 2684, by Rep. Randy Grau, R-Edmond, and Sen. Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City. The law, which is set to go into effect Nov. 1, prohibits the off-label use of the drug RU486. It was approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Mary Fallin in April.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Sheriffs criticize Oklahoma senator’s call to take back military surplus equipment
Some Oklahoma sheriffs are pushing back against legislation introduced by Sen. Tom Coburn that seeks to stop the flow of wartime military equipment to local law enforcement agencies. “It would set law enforcement back twenty or more years, jeopardizing the lives of our officers and American citizens,” Canadian County Sheriff Randall Edwards wrote in an email sent Monday to Coburn, Oklahoma politicians and the media.
Oklahoma transportation officials say load limit will remain for Purcell-Lexington bridge
Fixing the Purcell-Lexington bridge sufficiently to allow a 36-ton load restriction to be lifted would cost an additional $21.3 million and require the bridge to be closed for about 250 days, says Casey Shell, chief engineer for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Transportation officials believe that’s unacceptable. Instead, they plan to proceed with their previously announced decision to expedite construction of a new bridge, while maintaining the load restriction.
Lawmakers Hear Presentations On State Education Funding Levels
Oklahoma educators and other local community members told lawmakers Tuesday they want to send a message a to Congress to fully fund a federal program that provides impact aid to Oklahoma schools. The group voiced their concerns before the House Appropriations and Budget subcommittee on Common Education at the request of Rep. Dan Fisher, R-El Reno.
Group Plans Anti-Incarceration Rally At Capitol
Oklahoma’s Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate is a featured speaker in a rally to bring awareness to the state’s high incarceration rate and tough criminal code. The rally to end mass incarceration will be held Thursday at the state Capitol. Democratic State Sen. Connie Johnson of Oklahoma City is among a group of speakers at the event, which also will include family members of prisoners serving long sentences.
Walmart Foray Into Banking May Help Oklahomans
Walmart gets into the banking industry, which could help the one in three Oklahoma households that are unbanked or underbanked. The retailer’s GoBank checking account doesn’t require a credit check, but it does cost $2.95 to open and comes with a monthly fee for some account holders. Inger Giuffrida with Oklahoma Jump$tart Coalition said fees are one reason people avoid banks.
Read more from Public Radio Tulsa.
See also: Taking it to the Bank: Promoting Savings in Oklahoma from Oklahoma Assets Network
Quote of the Day
“One thing that immediately stands out in White’s opinion is just how thin his legal reasoning is. Despite the fact that this case concerns a matter of life and death for the millions of Americans he orders uninsured, his actual discussion of the merits of this case comprises less than 7 double-spaced pages of his opinion. In that brief analysis he quotes the two other Republican judges who ordered Obamacare defunded, claiming that ‘the government offers no textual basis’ in the Affordable Care Act itself for treating federally-run exchanges the same as those run by states. In fact, the government has identified numerous provisions of the law which cut against the argument that only some exchanges should provide subsidies.”
Ian Millhiser, a Senior Constitutional Policy Analyst at the Center for American Progress, writing about an U.S. District Judge’s decision upholding Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt’s lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act. The decision will be appealed to the 10th Circuit Court in Denver (Source: http://bit.ly/1vxaqY4).
Number of the Day
63,270
Number of Oklahoma children who received subsidized childcare in 2013 so their parents can participate in employment or education.
Source: Oklahoma Department of Human Services
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
For Oil and Gas Companies, Rigging Seems to Involve Wages, Too
A ProPublica review of U.S. Department of Labor investigations shows that oil and gas workers – men and women often performing high-risk jobs – are routinely being underpaid, and the companies hiring them often are using accounting techniques to deny workers benefits such as medical leave or unemployment insurance. The DOL investigations have centered on what is known as worker “misclassification,” an accounting gambit whereby companies treat full time employees as independent contractors paid hourly wages, and then fail to make good on their obligations. The technique, investigators and experts say, has become ever more common as small companies seek to gain contracts in an intensely competitive market by holding labor costs down.
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