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Today you should know that Governor Mary Fallin proposed a state budget that would cut most state agencies by 5 percent while lowering the state income tax. Oklahoma Policy Institute released a statement that Governor Fallin’s budget would make a bad situation worse. NewsOK discussed the budget’s winners and losers. You can see the Governor’s budget here.
Oklahoma higher education leaders criticized the budget for slashing higher education by nearly $50 million while cutting income taxes. For the past few years, more 18- to 19-year-old women in Oklahoma gave birth than entered the state’s three largest universities. Primary challenger Joy Hofmeister criticized State Superintendent Janet Barresi for loaning more than $1 million to her two election campaigns.
The Tulsa school board voted to cancel classes on March 31st to encourage teachers, parents and students to rally for increased education funding at the Capitol. The okeducationtruths blog shared a letter to lawmakers on the top three priorities for Oklahoma education advocates. The OK Policy Blog laid out what a responsible legislative agenda for Oklahoma might look like this year.
A month after recreational marijuana became legal in Colorado, the flood of marijuana that law enforcement predicted would come across the border doesn’t appear to have materialized. Oklahomans can be sent to prison for up to 10 years for possessing small amounts of marijuana. A Custer County family is disputing the Sheriff’s Office’s account of their son’s death. The family called 911 out of concern that the 18-year-old would hurt himself, and sheriff’s deputies ended up shooting him seven times.
The Number of the Day is how much Oklahoma spent on psychiatric medications for prison inmates in 2013. In today’s Policy Note, the New York Times reports that the customer base for businesses that appeal to the middle class is shrinking, as the top tier pulls even further away.
In The News
Governor Fallin suggests more tax cuts, budget reductions
The budget proposal released Monday by Gov. Mary Fallin cuts appropriations to most state agencies by 5 percent while lowering the state income tax rate a quarter of a point to 5 percent. Overall appropriations would be about $92 million less for the budget year beginning July 1 than for the current year under Fallin’s proposal. Projected general revenue the money available for appropriation by the Legislature is $170 million less than for this year, and the tax cut would take another $47.4 million.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: STATEMENT: Governor Fallin’s budget would make bad situation worse from Oklahoma Policy Institute
Fallin’s proposed budget has winners and losers
Any proposed budget has winners and losers, and the state budget Gov. Mary Fallin proposed Monday has plenty of both. Here are brief summaries of some of the biggest winners and losers: • High-income taxpayers: Oklahoma’s top income tax rate would be lowered from 5.25 percent to 5 percent beginning Jan. 1. • Oklahoma state troopers: $5 million in new money would go to the Department of Public Safety for trooper pay raises. The agency’s plan calls for granting pay raises averaging 22 percent to troopers beginning Jan. 1.
The Legislature returns to work today. Here’s what should be top on the the agenda.
Political debates often divide us between Republicans and Democrats, between conservatives, progressives, and libertarians. Winner-take-all political campaigns tend to emphasize those divides. But when we envision what a good future looks like for our state, Oklahomans aren’t that far apart. Nearly all of us want a state with healthy and well-educated citizens, good-paying jobs, safe streets, and strong communities. We want everyone to have the freedom and economic opportunity to raise a family without constantly worrying about having enough to get by. We still fall short of that ideal. But with lawmakers returning to work today, they have some big opportunities to bring it closer.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Oklahoma higher education leaders criticize funding cuts
Saying higher education is “a critical component of Oklahoma’s economic future,” Chancellor Glen Johnson argued for more state money Monday after the governor called for a cut of nearly $50 million. In her fiscal year 2015 budget, Gov. Mary Fallin proposed a 5 percent reduction for most agencies. University of Oklahoma President David Boren expressed concern Fallin’s budget includes a 0.25 percent personal income tax cut.
Tulsa schools will take day to rally at Capitol for education funding
The Tulsa school board voted Monday to cancel classes on March 31st to allow and encourage teachers, parents and students to attend a rally for increased state funding for public schools at the Oklahoma Capitol. Board members Lana Turner-Addison and Gary Percefull said they would be attending the rally with teachers and parents from their election districts. Percefull said he had not supported a similar recommendation a few years back but considers current funding levels more dire.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Letter to our legislators
his morning, I sent the following letter to the members of the Oklahoma Senate Education Committee and the Oklahoma House Common Education Committee: Dear Committee Member: Please allow me to introduce myself. I am a longtime Oklahoma educator who writes the blog okeducationtruths. Although I speak only for myself, the number of people who receive my blog through email and follow my Twitter and Facebook pages has been growing steadily. I seem to have found a niche with people who want to change the narrative about public education in this state. Collectively, the parents, educators, and other concerned citizens I reach each day have a number of concerns. Foremost among these is school funding.
Read more from okeducationtruths.
Predictions of flood of Colorado pot haven’t materialized yet, officials say
A month after recreational marijuana became legal in Colorado, the flood of Rocky Mountain weed law enforcement officials predicted would come across the border into Oklahoma doesn’t appear to have materialized. About 53 percent of Colorado voters in November 2012 voted to repeal the state’s ban on recreational marijuana. That change went into effect at the beginning of January. The new law allows anyone older than 21 to buy small amounts of marijuana from dispensaries in the state.
Oklahoma’s harsh marijuana possession law has its critics
Smoke a joint on your porch in Denver and you face no legal consequence. Get caught doing it twice in Oklahoma City and the law says you could go to prison for up to 10 years. Oklahoma has some of the strictest marijuana-possession laws in the nation, but the reality is few people convicted only of possession find themselves serving time, law enforcement officials, prosecutors and defense attorneys say. Last month, State Sen. Constance Johnson filed Senate Bill 2116 to legalize marijuana in Oklahoma and place its regulation under the control of the state Health Department.
Oklahoma parents say son needed help, instead Custer County sheriff’s deputies shot him
At 18 years old, the Goodblankets’ eldest son stood larger than most grown men: 6-foot-8 and at least 215 pounds. And on the night of Dec. 21, a misunderstanding with his girlfriend spun Mah-hi-vist Goodblanket into a destructive fit, smashing windows and doors and knocking over the family’s Christmas tree. Melissa and Wilbur Goodblanket feared he would hurt himself, so they called 911. The law enforcement response that followed would leave their son lifeless on the floor of their Clinton home, riddled with gunshots.
Oklahoma schools superintendent’s loans to campaign draws criticism
State schools Superintendent Janet Barresi has loaned more than $1 million to her two campaigns for the state’s top education post, her fundraising reports show. The Edmond Republican loaned her first campaign $731,345, eventually repaying herself about $60,000, the reports show. Her Republican challenger, Joy Hofmeister, complained the superintendent is spending that much money to buy herself the job.
Oklahoma teen birthrate is second highest in the U.S.
For the past few years, more 18- to 19-year-old women in Oklahoma gave birth than entered the state’s three largest universities as incoming female freshmen, according to a recent report on teen birthrates. Oklahoma’s teen birthrates are among some of the highest in the nation, with Oklahoma’s teen birthrate among 15- to 19-year-olds ranking second highest in the nation, according to an analysis by the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy. In the U.S., there were historic low teen birthrates from 2011 to 2012.
Quote of the Day
This budget will be very damaging to the future of our state if it is not modified in the weeks ahead. How can we afford another tax cut when we are already shortchanging the education of our children and grandchildren? Failure to adequately support higher education and all of education will discourage the creation of new jobs and investments in our state.
-University of Oklahoma President David Boren, responding to Governor Fallin’s proposal to cut taxes further while slashing higher education funding by nearly $50 million (Source: http://bit.ly/1gJa77s)
Number of the Day
$1.3 million
How much Oklahoma spent on psychiatric medications for prison inmates in 2013.
Source: Oklahoma Department of Corrections via Oklahoma Watch
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
The middle class is steadily eroding. Just ask the business world.
In Manhattan, the upscale clothing retailer Barneys will replace the bankrupt discounter Loehmann’s, whose Chelsea store closes in a few weeks. Across the country, Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants are struggling, while fine-dining chains like Capital Grille are thriving. And at General Electric, the increase in demand for high-end dishwashers and refrigerators dwarfs sales growth of mass-market models. As politicians and pundits in Washington continue to spar over whether economic inequality is in fact deepening, in corporate America there really is no debate at all. The post-recession reality is that the customer base for businesses that appeal to the middle class is shrinking as the top tier pulls even further away.
Read more from The New York Times.
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