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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.
The annual sign up window to buy health insurance through Healthcare.Gov begins this Saturday. Customers can already compare plans and prices being offered for 2015. Last we explained why it’s worth it to get coverage. A 4.8 magnitude earthquake centered in south-central Kansas was felt across Oklahoma yesterday. The Oklahoma State Election Board on Wednesday certified the election of U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin, ruling that Oklahoma does not need to conduct a special election for the seat even though Rep. Mullin’s Democratic opponent died two days before the election. The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that a lesbian woman who helped raise her partner’s two biological children is entitled to a court hearing on her claim for parental rights. You can read the full ruling here.
David Blatt’s Journal Record column discussed signs that Oklahomans seem to have given up on state politics. Nationwide, last week’s midterm elections saw the lowest turnout in 72 years. The Oklahoman Editorial Board weighed in on OK Policy’s recommendations to restore health to our democracy. On the OK Policy Blog, we gave suggestions for an agenda in Gov. Mary Fallin’s second term, following an election where she said almost nothing about what she would do.
A new report on early childhood development estimates that nearly a quarter of a million children in Oklahoma were living in poverty in 2012. You can read the full report here. The Inasmuch Foundation has given $1 million to the KIPP Reach College Preparatory charter school in Oklahoma City to expand with four new schools. School administrators told a legislative study that the state’s shortage of teachers has become a “scary” situation. House Speaker expressed frustration at foot-dragging by the State Board of Education on developing school standards to replace Common Core. Tulsa Superintendent Keith Ballard said about 25 percent of Tulsa Public Schools’ next bond package could be dedicated to bolstering classroom technology.
Vox discussed how Oklahoma conservative billionaire Harold Hamm has taken to arguing that he made his fortune through luck to avoid a large divorce settlement. Several county sheriffs in Oklahoma have begun selling e-cigarettes to inmates to help fund their jails. The Tulsa World discussed how state budget cuts are set to eliminate important juvenile justice services and make government more inefficient. A new study found that many Indian Health Service facilities are still putting an age limit on who can purchase Plan B contraception, even though that violates federal law. A report from a civil rights group says the city of Norman ranks higher than the national average and best in Oklahoma for supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. You can see the full report here.
The Number of the Day is poverty rate for African-Americans in Oklahoma, nearly double the white poverty rate. In today’s Policy Note, the Chronicle of Higher Education discusses how complicated financial-aid jargon is a barrier to college access, especially for first-generation college students.
In The News
Health Insurance Enrollment begins November 15 on healthcare.gov
The annual sign up window to buy health insurance through Healthcare.Gov is fast approaching. Sign-ups begin Saturday, November 15; however, you don’t have to wait until then to compare plans and prices being offered for 2015. Last year some customers reported problems they faced trying to sign up. Some said there was confusion, computer issues and even said they received little to no help from assistance sites. This year the government promises things will be different.
See also: Are you covered yet? from the OK Policy Blog.
Oklahoma feels 4.8 magnitude earthquake centered in south-central Kansas
Feeling earthquakes is the new normal in Oklahoma. Tulsans were among many people across the state who felt a Kansas-centered temblor Wednesday afternoon. “I could notice my monitor really starting to sway,” said Vicki Burnett, who felt the shaking while at work in the city. “Then of course my chair was wiggling and everything, so I was like ‘What in the heck?’”
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma Election Board certifies Mullin as winner in 2nd Congressional District
The Oklahoma State Election Board on Wednesday certified the general election results, clearing the way for incumbent U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin to serve another term. Democrats had sought a special election following the death of their nominee, Earl Everett of Fort Gibson. Mullin, a Republican, handily defeated Everett and Jon Douthitt, an independent from Claremore. Everett died two days before the Nov. 4 general election following a car accident.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma Supreme Court rules in gay parents’ case
The Oklahoma Supreme Court says a lesbian woman who helped raise her partner’s two biological children is entitled to a court hearing on her claim for parental rights and what is in the best interest of the children, now ages 6 and 7. The court issued its ruling on Wednesday, overturning a decision by a Canadian County judge who had dismissed the woman’s claim for parental rights.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Poor choices
Oklahomans seem to have given up on state politics. Last week, barely 40 percent of registered voters went to the polls to cast a vote for governor; including voters not registered, turnout was less than one-third of the state’s eligible voters. Turnout plunged by 20 percent compared to four years ago, and Mary Fallin received the smallest number of votes of any incumbent governor in Oklahoma history.
Read more from the Journal Record.
See also: The Worst Voter Turnout in 72 Years from The New York Times
For some, a glimmer of good news from Oklahoma’s low voter turnout
Low turnout in the Nov. 4 Oklahoma elections led to laments about voter apathy. For some political operatives, however, the anemic participation rate offered a glimmer of good news. Only about 41 percent of registered voters turned out in Oklahoma, which is less than normal for a nonpresidential election in which an incumbent governor is on the ballot. The 2014 turnout produced the fewest votes cast in a gubernatorial election since 1978. Votes cast for governor are linked to requirements for getting initiative petitions and third-party presidential nominees on the Oklahoma ballot. The lower the turnout, the lower the burden for future ballot access.
Now what?
As expected, Oklahoma voters have re-elected Governor Mary Fallin to a second term. Backed by a strong Republican majority in the legislature, the Governor will have another four years to put her policies in place. Yet even those voters who were paying attention during the campaign can be forgiven for lacking a clear sense of the Governor’s second-term agenda. However, Oklahoma faces no shortage of opportunities for strong leadership to tackle urgent and long-standing problems. Here are five areas calling out for action.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Report: 223,000 Oklahoma Children Living In Poverty
A new report on early childhood development estimates that nearly a quarter of a million children in Oklahoma were living in poverty in 2012. The report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation also found that about one-third of the state’s kids were living with parents who didn’t have steady employment. The foundation advocates for investing in the critical early years of a child’s life.
Successful inner-city charter school getting $1 million for expansion in Oklahoma City
Plans to expand one of the state’s most successful inner-city school programs are coming into focus, thanks to a sizable gift from a familiar donor. The Inasmuch Foundation, which donates to education, health and human service causes, is giving $1 million to KIPP Reach College Preparatory, a public charter school on Oklahoma City’s northeast side. By 2021, KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) plans to open four new schools in Oklahoma City, including a middle school (2017) and an elementary school (2018) on the city’s south side. Also in the works are an elementary school (2019) that will feed into the existing middle school and a high school (2021), the location of which has yet to be determined.
State’s teacher shortage ‘scary,’ legislative panel is told
The state’s shortage of teachers has become a “scary” situation, a legislative panel was told Wednesday. Clinton Public Schools Superintendent Kevin Hime told lawmakers during a joint interim study on common education funding sources that money alone will not solve the problem. Teacher satisfaction needs to be improved, he said. Class sizes are a big issue for teachers in his district, he said. Once class sizes grow to 22 to 23 students per teacher, teachers leave, Hime said.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Legislative leader expresses frustrations with Board of Education
Foot-dragging by the State Board of Education on developing school standards has caused “some frustration,” Speaker of the House Jeff Hickman said Wednesday. “I’ve sent some letters over encouraging them to get moving,” Hickman, R-Fairview, told the Tulsa Regional Chamber. “We passed legislation that required them to develop new standards, and it was all done with an emergency clause, which means we wanted things done sooner rather than later. You don’t pass a bill with an emergency clause because you want someone to sit around six, eight, 12 months and get to it when they get around to it.”
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Tulsa teachers: Next bond package should address ‘digital divide’ among students
About 25 percent of Tulsa Public Schools’ next bond package could be dedicated to bolstering classroom technology, Superintendent Keith Ballard said Wednesday. In making the case for a spring bond election, TPS released the results of a recent survey of nearly 1,200 district teachers, principals and support staff about classroom technology. Seventy-four percent of respondents agreed that there is an increasing skills gap between economically disadvantaged students and those with more resources and greater access to technology.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
To limit divorce settlement, conservative billionaire argues that he got rich through luck
On Tuesday, David Segal of the New York Times had a fascinating report on oil billionaire Harold Hamm’s divorce settlement, which is one of the largest in history. Hamm married his wife in 1988, but he only became a billionaire over the past decade — when fracking in his large landholdings in the Bakken formation in North Dakota and Montana began yielding huge amounts of shale oil. Now the 24th richest man in the country, Hamm apparently wanted to hold on to as much of that wealth as possible, and limit the size of the settlement. So he crafted his legal strategy around a quirk in Oklahoma divorce law.
E-Cig Sales Help Fund Oklahoma County Jails
Oklahoma law says every county must run a jail, but jails are expensive, so sheriff’s departments are trying to come up with new ways to raise money without getting it from taxpayers. One way is to sell e-cigarettes to inmates. Washington and Muskogee Counties already do it and Rogers County just got approval. The specially made e-cigarettes are sold for $10 a piece to the inmates and are good for 500 puffs which is the equivalent to three or four packs.
Valuable service going by the wayside
Operators of the Tulsa Area Community Intervention Center have fought the good fight, trying to keep a valuable service open that’s produced better outcomes for juveniles and reduced police time. The battle to survive, however, likely ends March 1 when funding runs out and there will be no more state or local money to replace it. For Jim Walker, it will be a disappointing end to a program that’s genuinely helped troubled teens, the community and the Tulsa Police Department.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Why Are Native American Women Still Being Denied Access to Plan B?
Last fall, Indian Health Services, the federal agency charged with administering healthcare on tribal lands, announced that it would finally make Plan B available over the counter. Plan B has been available without a prescription since 2006, and available for anyone of any age to buy since March of this year. But that wasn’t the case for tribal people, who could get Plan B free of charge but were still being required to get a prescription for the drug.
Gay Rights Group Ranks 4 Oklahoma Cities In 2014 Index
A report from a gay civil rights group says the city of Norman ranks higher than the national average for supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. The third annual report from the Human Rights Campaign ranks more than 350 cities nationwide, including four in Oklahoma — Broken Arrow, Norman, Oklahoma City, and Tulsa.
Quote of the Day
“The teacher shortage is about kids. I want an effective teacher in every room. I can’t do that until I can put a teacher in every room.”
– Clinton Public Schools Superintendent Kevin Hime, speaking at an interim study on teacher shortages in the state. (Source: bit.ly/1v6sTMy)
Number of the Day
22.9%
Poverty rate for African-Americans in Oklahoma, nearly double the white poverty rate
Source: OK Policy’s 2013 Poverty Profile.
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Another College-Access Issue: Financial-Aid Jargon
From his office window, Eric Johnson can see the groundskeeping staff clearing off the sidewalk with leaf blowers. Colleges like the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he works, pull out all the stops to make their campuses inviting. But rarely, he says, do they work as diligently to create a welcoming presence online, even though that’s where today’s prospective students encounter them first. In a way, Mr. Johnson’s job is to be the online equivalent of those groundskeepers, clearing debris from a corner of the university’s website that can be particularly inhospitable: the section explaining financial aid.
Read more from the Chronicle of Higher Education.
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