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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.
Want to know more about what’s on the ballot Nov. 4? Check out OK Policy’s 2014 Oklahoma Elections page, with information on voting times, state questions, judicial elections, and more.
Three days of early, in-person voting is set to begin today at county election board offices across the state as most political experts predict turnout will be relatively light for next week’s general election. David Blatt’s Journal Record column discussed what’s behind the decline in voting among Oklahomans. On the OK Policy Blog, Ryan Kiesel makes the case for creating multi-member districts to expand the number of voices at the Legislature. See more from our series on Oklahoma’s broken democracy here.
Gov. Mary Fallin raised more than $932,000 from donors in the final push toward Tuesday’s election while her main challenger, Joe Dorman, raised more than $828,000, their latest campaign reports show. Overall, Dorman has received almost $1.5 million in contributions since beginning fundraising in December while Fallin, who began her reelection effort in 2011, has raised more than $4.5 million. Campaign finance reports show state schools superintendent candidate Joy Hofmeister has outraised and outspent her opponent, John Cox, heading into the closing days of their campaign. U.S. Rep. James Lankford collected $1.2 million in the last quarter, as former foe T.W. Shannon and a host of special interest groups kicked in cash for his U.S. Senate race.
Since it began operations in February, the state Workers Compensation Commission has not sought payment from businesses to replenish a fund that pays injured workers when self-insured companies cannot pay their claims, even though the fund is far below levels required by law. For more than two months, the state Workers Compensation Commission has refused to hear appeals involving injured workers’ claims until the Attorney General’s Office decides whether the commission can close its deliberations to the public. An appeals court ruled that Tulsa County will have to pay the legal fees for one of two couples involved in a lawsuit that led to Oklahoma’s ban on same-sex marriages being overturned.
The director of the Oklahoma State Climatological Survey said Oklahomans should prepare for a drought that could extend through the spring and possibly for years. State officials and researchers updated a legislative committee on their efforts to study the state’s ongoing earthquake swarm, which has been connected to wastewater disposal practices by the oil and gas industry. The Senate Insurance Committee examined applying the state’s unclaimed property laws to unclaimed life insurance benefits. NewsOn6 examined a new Oklahoma law that makes it easier for prosecutors to confiscate cars that belong to drunk drivers.
Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Robert Patton told legislators that county jails are inadequate holding facilities for those with long-term criminal sentences, but the state still has a backlog of 240 inmates in county jails. The Tulsa World discussed why Oklahoma continues to lead the nation in incarcerating women. An Oklahoma Watch investigation found that serious violations by inmates plagued Oklahoma’s largest private halfway houses for three years before the state took action in January by removing all inmates from one and later demanding a corrective plan at the other.
The Number of the Day is the number of Atmospheric and Space Scientists who worked in Oklahoma in 2013. In today’s Policy Note, Vox shows how the Affordable Care Act is significantly reducing inequality as it expands access to health insurance.
In The News
Early in-person voting begins Thursday in Oklahoma
Three days of early, in-person voting is set to begin Thursday at county election board offices across the state as most political experts predict turnout will be relatively light for next week’s general election. Registered voters can cast their ballots from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, at their county election board office. The state previously offered early voting on Monday, but switched that day to Thursday to help local officials better prepare for Election Day on Tuesday. Fewer than 50 percent of Oklahoma’s 2 million registered voters are expected to vote in this year’s general election.
Our broken democracy
With Election Day less than a week away, there’s one prediction I can make with bold but gloomy certainty: Next Tuesday, most Oklahomans will not exercise their right to vote. In the last midterm elections, in 2010, just less than 40 percent of Oklahomans eligible to vote went to the polls, the 12th-lowest turnout rate in the nation. This year, with fewer contested statewide races and state questions, even fewer voters are likely to decide who will serve as our governor and represent us in Congress, among other offices.
Read more from the Journal Record.
Multi-member districts: More choices, more voices
At a recent forum on the upcoming elections in Oklahoma, an audience member posed a question asking why substantive issues are non-existent in campaigns. In response, a member of the panel, a well-known and respected political consultant, blamed the voters. If the voters wanted to hear robust debates on the issues of the day, he claimed, then they would reject campaigns that are essentially copy-and-paste jobs. That’s like owning an ice cream shop that only serves vanilla, and then being surprised to learn vanilla is your best seller.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
See also: Voting Information and Resources from the OK Policy Blog.
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, Democratic challenger staying close in final fundraising push
Gov. Mary Fallin raised more than $932,000 from donors in the final push toward Tuesday’s election while her main challenger, Joe Dorman, raised more than $828,000, their latest campaign reports show. Those totals involve funds raised since Aug. 12, including so-called last-minute donations reported through Tuesday night. Overall, Dorman, a Democrat, has accepted almost $1.5 million in contributions since beginning fundraising in December. Fallin, a Republican who began a re-election effort that began in 2011, has raised three times that amount — more than $4.5 million.
Hofmeister Outraises Cox as Election Day Nears
Campaign finance reports filed Monday show state schools superintendent candidate Joy Hofmeister has outraised and outspent her opponent, John Cox, heading into the closing days of their campaign. She also has more money left in her campaign coffers. Reports show Hofmeister, a Republican, had $120,921 in unspent funds as of Oct. 20 while Cox, a Democrat, had $49,742. Hofmeister’s campaign has raised $771,434 this year compared with Cox’s $433,016.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
U.S. Rep. James Lankford collects $1.2 million in three months after defeating T.W. Shannon
U.S. Rep. James Lankford, the heavy favorite to win Oklahoma’s open U.S. Senate seat next week, collected $1.2 million in the last quarter, as former foe T.W. Shannon and a host of special interest groups kicked in cash. Lankford’s haul — from July through September — came after the race was essentially decided. The Oklahoma City Republican beat Shannon, a state House member, in the GOP primary on June 24. And, though the hard part was definitely over in late June, Lankford spent $627,000 in the most recent quarter, with more than $145,000 going to his payroll.
Workers Comp Commission lets self-insurance fund drop below statutory minimum
Since it began operations in February, the state Workers Compensation Commission has not sought payment from businesses to replenish a fund that pays injured workers when self-insured companies cannot pay their claims, records show. The commission is required by state law to seek payment through an assessment on self-insured businesses if the balance of the Self-Insurance Guaranty Fund falls below $1 million. The monthly balance was far below that point just before the commission began operating in February and has never been above it, records show.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Workers Comp hearings on hold pending AG decision on closing deliberations to public
For more than two months, the state Workers Compensation Commission has refused to hear appeals involving injured workers’ claims until the Attorney General’s Office decides whether the commission can close its deliberations to the public. At least 18 appeals are pending before the commissioners — one involving a claim appealed nearly four months ago — while it waits for an attorney general’s opinion, records show. While two commissioners believe state laws related to such hearings are unclear and conflicting, the law creating the commission states its hearings “shall be open to the public.”
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Appeals court rules county will pay legal fees for one couple in same-sex lawsuit
An appeals court decided Monday that Tulsa County will have to pay the legal fees for one of two lesbian couples involved in a lawsuit that led to Oklahoma’s ban on same-sex marriages being overturned. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision granted the request of attorneys for Mary Bishop and Sharon Baldwin to award them fees for their legal work on the case in the court.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Winter unlikely to bring drought relief to Oklahoma
If you thought this winter would bring the end of Oklahoma’s drought, think again. The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center is predicting slightly elevated chances for a wetter than normal winter in the southern Great Plains. But an Oklahoma climate scientist says even if that moisture does materialize, it probably won’t be enough to reverse the state’s deepening drought.
Oklahoma legislative committee studies earthquake swarm
Representatives from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, Oklahoma Geological Survey, governor’s office and other researchers on Tuesday updated a legislative committee on ongoing efforts to better understand the state’s ongoing earthquake swarm. Much of the discussion centered on the Arbuckle rock formation, which underlies most of the state and is the deepest sedimentary rock layer.
Study Probes Unclaimed Property Laws
The Senate Insurance Committee listened Wednesday as Treasurer Ken Miller, representatives of the Oklahoma Insurance Department and a spokeswoman for a national life insurers group argued about the application of the state’s unclaimed property laws to unclaimed life insurance benefits. Miller would like to see legislation passed that requires the companies to compare their records to the Social Security Administrations death master file.
Law Makes It Easier For Oklahoma To Confiscate Drunk Drivers’ Vehicles
A new law in Oklahoma makes it easier for prosecutors to confiscate cars that belong to drunk drivers. It’s just now on the books, so new it hasn’t been used yet in Tulsa. And though prosecutors haven’t used this tool yet, they plan to. Defense attorneys said it means the cost of a DUI, the effective punishment, is much greater than before. DUI checkpoints are one way that police officers find drunk drivers, and many times they find repeat offenders still behind the wheel.
Committee Examines County Jail Reimbursements For Those Convicted With Long Term Sentences
County jails are inadequate holding facilities for those with long-term criminal sentences, Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Robert Patton said Wednesday during an interim study. A report prepared by House staffer Joshua Maxey said the daily required payment by the DOC to the counties is $27 per day plus medical costs for each inmate.
Taking on issue of women in prison
Oklahoma is No. 1. Unfortunately, it is No. 1 in putting women in prison per capita. And it’s been that way for at least 15 years. It’s not a ranking anyone should point to with pride. As much attention as possible needs to be directed toward the problem. So, we applaud the Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women for taking up the issue as a two-year initiative. It’s a local issue. Tulsa County sends more women to prison than any other county in the state.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Questions of Oversight: Inmate Violations at Halfway Houses
Serious violations by inmates plagued Oklahoma’s two largest halfway houses for three years before the state took action in January by removing all inmates from one and later demanding a corrective plan at the other. State data analyzed by Oklahoma Watch show that from 2010 to 2013, the rates of serious “misconducts” by male offenders quadrupled at the Avalon Correctional Center in Tulsa, run by a for-profit company, Avalon Correctional Services Inc.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
Quote of the Day
“You’ve got two facilities (where) you should be questioning what has been going on, and you’re going to turn around and fill it back up and not say, ‘Hey, wait a minute, maybe we need to step back?’ I don’t see enough supervision.”
-Lynn Powell, director of the prison reform group OK-CURE, speaking about Oklahoma’s move to return prisoners to halfway houses operated by the private prison company Avalon. The state had pulled inmates out of the facility due to numerous reports of drug use and inmate fights allowed by guards (Source: http://bit.ly/1p6gR4e)
Number of the Day
260
The number of Atmospheric and Space Scientists who worked in Oklahoma in 2013.
Source: Oklahoma Wage Report, 2013.
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Obamacare isn’t just expanding health insurance. It’s reducing inequality.
Obamacare is becoming a huge weapon in the fight against inequality. This shows up clearly in this New York Times piece. It uses data from Civis Analytics to understand, on the most micro-level, how the Affordable Care Act is changing America. For the richest enclaves, Obamacare hasn’t been a giant deal. The uninsured rate for people who live in America’s highest-income counties just slightly budged downwards, from 8.2 to 6.5 percent over the health law’s rollout. But for those who live in low-income areas, Obamacare has made a world of difference. The uninsured rate for residents of poor counties fell by 9 percentage points, from 26.4 percent in 2013 to 17.5 percent now.
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