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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 thousands of Oklahoma federal employees were furloughed and many others continued work without pay due to the government shutdown. Muskogee’s largest employer, the Veterans Affairs Regional Office, will begin closing down its operations Friday if the shutdown continues. The Oklahoma WIC program that provides nutrition assistance and health care referrals to very low-income mothers and young children has just two weeks left of funding due to the shutdown.
The launch of a federal health insurance marketplace that allows consumers to shop for and buy health insurance got off to a slow start across Oklahoma due to heavy demand. Oklahomans in Grady County responded with mostly positive feedback about the new health insurance options. Oklahoma’s Department of Human Services has missed some key deadlines for recruiting foster families and retaining caseworkers in its court-ordered efforts to improve the child welfare system. OK Policy previously discussed the obstacles remaining for Oklahoma’s child welfare reforms.
A state Board has recommended 12 percent pay raises for the state’s judiciary, which could trigger similar raises for all statewide elected officials. A broad group of educators and parents of special-needs children filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a law that allows the use of public funds to send special-needs students to private schools. Oklahoma’s Supreme Court ruled that while it had previously allowed an organization that governs high school sports in the state to operate with “near impunity” as a voluntary organization, it would treat the group in the future as it would a state agency because it is so interwoven with the public school system.
The Number of the Day is the number of children in Oklahoma living in households that have experienced foreclosure or are seriously delinquent on their mortgages, 4 percent of the state’s kids. In today’s Policy Note, Wonkblog list the nine most painful impacts of the government shutdown.
In The News
Government shutdown affects thousands in Oklahoma
Thousands of Oklahoma federal employees went off the clock Tuesday, including many who continued to work without pay or the promise of it, as Congress and the Obama administration settled into trench warfare over a partial federal government shutdown. In the Tulsa area, the budget stalemate manifested itself in the closing of area Army Corps of Engineers parks and facilities and the furlough of civilian technicians at the Air National Guard base at Tulsa International Airport. Workers deemed essential will remain on the job at least for awhile. That includes most Veterans Affairs services, Social Security offices, federal law enforcement officers and, at least for two weeks, the federal courts in Tulsa.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Muskogee’s largest employer to begin ‘orderly shutdown’
Muskogee’s largest employer will begin an “orderly shutdown” of its operations Friday should federal lawmakers fail to provide funding for government agencies. Jacob Nichols, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs local benefits office, said the agency has the funding to continue providing services through Thursday. The VA Regional Office is the largest in the nation and provides jobs for more than 1,300 local workers. As the city’s largest employer, it provides a significant social and economic impact to Oklahoma and serves an estimated 338,700 veterans in the state.
Read more from the Muskogee Phoenix.
Government shutdown: Two weeks of funding left for Oklahoma WIC program
In Oklahoma, the government shutdown has an immediate impact on federal agencies, but some state agencies are concerned about potential funding issues the shutdown could cause. The Oklahoma WIC Program has sufficient funds to continue through at least two weeks in a government shutdown, but after two weeks Oklahoma’s WIC Program will have to reassess its options. WIC — or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children — provides supplemental foods, health care referrals and nutrition education for low-income pregnant women, infants, and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk.
Health insurance marketplace launches in Oklahoma
The launch of a federal health insurance marketplace that allows consumers to shop for and buy health insurance got off to a slow start across Oklahoma on Tuesday, but officials said that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Although there were scattered reports of problems logging into the new system and the federal website noted that heavy traffic was making the page slow to load, that isn’t unexpected on the first day of operation, said Chad Austin, who is overseeing 60 navigators who have been hired to help people use the website and shop for plans.
Read more from the Enid News & Eagle.
Obamacare met with mostly positive feedback in Grady
Yesterday marked the first time U.S. citizens could sign up for health care via The Affordable Care Act, and Grady County met the landmark legislation with a variety of opinions. Mayor and Ross Home Health care Owner Hank Ross said the law addresses some key issues, but is by no means perfect. “It’s like all landmark legislation,” he said. “Until we get healthy people to pay into the pool we won’t be able to curtail insurance costs.” Ross said addressing end of life care is key to managing costs in the health care world. –
Read more more from The Express-Star.
Oklahoma DHS coming up short in foster families, caseworker retention
Oklahoma’s Department of Human Services says it’s making progress after a court order the agency to improve the system. At the same time, however, DHS leaders admit they’ve missed some key deadlines in what’s called the “Pinnacle Plan.” Statistics show as recently as the month of May, 40 children were abused while in DHS custody. That’s the heart of a new report out showing progress at DHS – and also some goals that haven’t been met on recruiting new foster families and new case workers to handle the load.
Previously: Reforming the child welfare system: A progress report from the OK Policy Blog
Higher pay for judiciary urged; could lead to raise for state officials
The state Board of Judicial Compensation has recommended 12 percent pay raises for the state’s judiciary, a recommendation that could trigger similar raises for all statewide elected officials as well as employees of the state court system. The board meets every two years to review judicial compensation and issue recommendations. Two years ago the Legislature and Gov. Mary Fallin torpedoed the proposed raises, and in 2009 then-Chief Justice James Edmondson asked the board not to recommend raises because of the state’s financial straits. Thus, the judiciary has not had a raise in six years.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Lawsuit challenges constitutionality of private school vouchers in Oklahoma
The plaintiffs are a broad group including educators and parents of special-needs children. A group of Oklahomans filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the constitutionality of a law that allows the use of public funds to send special-needs students to private schools. In a petition filed in Oklahoma County District Court, the plaintiffs asked the court to declare the law invalid and to issue a permanent injunction barring the defendants from expending any more public funds on the program.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Okla. Supreme Court rules against high school sports regulator
Oklahoma’s Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the organization that governs high school sports in the state acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner when it said a high school football player was ineligible for the 2012 playoffs because he attended a number of athletic camps in possible violation of the group’s rules. The court said that while it had previously let the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association operate with “near impunity” as a voluntary organization, it would treat the group in the future as it would a state agency because it is so interwoven with the public school system.
Read more here from the Associated Press.
Quote of the Day
The top story all day was that Republicans had shut down the federal government because President Obama wouldn’t defund or delay the Affordable Care Act. The other major story was that the government’s servers were crashing because so many people were trying to see if they could get insurance through Obamacare. So on the one hand, Washington was shut down because Republicans don’t want Obamacare. On the other hand, Obamacare was nearly shut down because so many Americans wanted Obamacare.
-Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein (Source: http://wapo.st/18sWjGR)
Number of the Day
32,000
The number of children in Oklahoma living in households that have experienced foreclosure or are seriously delinquent on their mortgages, 4 percent of the state’s kids
Source: Brookings Institution
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
The nine most painful impacts of a government shutdown
The federal government shut down on Tuesday and will stay closed until Congress can reach an agreement on how to fund day-to-day operations. So who gets hurt most by the shutdown? Everyone’s heard that the panda cam at the National Zoo will power down, but that’s hardly the most serious consequence of a shutdown. The biggest disruptions are less visible — the workers going without pay, the patients turned away from research clinics, and so on. Here’s a rough list.
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The whole state needs to close, and do as they did in other states where the virus slowed. No one needs to be out except essential personnel. such as fire fighters, EMSA, police, and other law enforcement.