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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 an email leaked to The Lost Ogle blog warns that as many as 500 employees will be laid off at Chesapeake Energy in the next 90 days. The Tulsa school board approved nearly $6 million in additional funding for employee salary increases. OK Policy released a factsheet on what you need to know about Oklahoma’s new health insurance marketplace opening for enrollment October 1.
KWGS discussed the challenge Oklahoma faces of a “silver tsunami” of growing numbers of poor, disable seniors. The Cherokee Nation and the descendants of slaves who have been suing the tribe to reinstate their citizenship have made a joint request to get a decision from a federal judge.
A legislator from drought-stricken southwestern Oklahoma wants a House committee look at how the state is handling the current drought and planning for a lingering dry spell. The Journal Record writes that Oklahoma spends far too little on mental health.
The Number of the Day is Oklahoma’s rank nationally for the share of graduates whose bachelor’s degrees are in education. In today’s Policy Note, the New Republic discusses how more states led by Republican Governors are accepting federal funds to extend Medicaid.
In The News
Leaked email warns of big layoffs at Chesapeake Energy
If you work for Chesapeake Energy, it may be time to polish up your LinkedIn profile. We have obtained through the Ogle Mole Network a Chesapeake email that suggests the company could layoff 500 employees or more from its OKC campus within the next 90 days. The email was sent to the personal email accounts of several laid off employees in order to comply with the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (“WARN”). According to the Department of Labor, WARN “protects employees, their families, and communities by requiring most employers with 100 or more employees to provide 60-day advance notification of plant closings and mass layoffs of employees.”
Tulsa Public Schools employees to get nearly $6 million in raises
The Tulsa school board approved nearly $6 million in additional funding for employee salary increases on Monday. All but $140,000, which was privately donated through the Tulsa Community Foundation for raises for 23 ranking administrators, will come straight out of the district’s annual budget. Lynn Stockley, president of the Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association, declared the negotiated contract a win because it finally restores teachers to the place on the pay scale where they would have been if the school district hadn’t skipped annual increases during deep budget cutbacks in 2009.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
What you need to know about Oklahoma’s new health insurance marketplace
Beginning October 1 and lasting until March 31, 2014, Oklahomans without access to affordable health insurance through their employer or a government sponsored plan will be able to purchase a plan through the new Health Insurance Marketplace at www.healthcare.gov or calling (800) 318-2596. Also starting October 1st, Oklahomans will be able to dial 2-1-1 to get general information about the Affordable Care Act, the Health Insurance Marketplace, or to find help locating in-person assistance. Oklahoma Health Insurance Marketplace resources will also be available on-line at www.211Oklahoma.org.
Read more from Oklahoma Policy Institute.
Oklahoma faces “silver tsunami” of poor, disabled seniors
Oklahoma ranks sixth in the nation in the proportion of its population age 50 or older with a disability, and the state’s disabled older citizens are more likely to rent than to own a home. Gather 100 Oklahomans age 50 or older in a single room, and statistics say 42 of them will be disabled. Do that in the worst state, Arkansas, and 45 will be disabled. In the best state, Minnesota, just 28 will be. That’s according to the most recent edition of AARP’s state housing profiles.
Cherokee Nation, freedmen seek answer to long-running citizenship dispute
The Cherokee Nation and the descendants of slaves who have been suing the tribe for more than a decade have taken an extraordinary step to get a decision from a federal judge. Cherokee freedmen, the tribe and the federal government filed a joint request for a judge to address the central issue in the dispute — whether an 1866 treaty between the tribe and the U.S. government gave the freedmen the right to tribal citizenship. The legal filing, made Friday in U.S. District Court here, notes that the original case was first filed in 2003 and that issues about the Cherokee Nation’s sovereign immunity have gone twice to a federal appeals court.
Southwestern Okla. legislator seeks drought review
A legislator from drought-stricken southwestern Oklahoma wants a House committee look at how the state is handling the current drought and planning for a lingering dry spell. Faxon Republican Don Armes requested Tuesday’s hearing before the House Agriculture Committee. The public meeting starts at 9 a.m. Armes’ district is about 100 miles southwest of Oklahoma City and includes parts of Comanche and Tillman counties. While much of Oklahoma has recovered from a yearslong drought, far western Oklahoma and the Panhandle remain in drought conditions ranging from severe to exceptional. The worst drought is in far southwest Oklahoma.
Read more from the Associated Press.
Journal Record: Oklahoma must pay more for mental health
Surely, Monday’s shooting will bring gun control debate back to the forefront for the third time in 14 months. But the more important issue is mental illness. A story in Tuesday’s Journal Record cites a statistic from the state’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services that people with severe mental illness die 25 years sooner than those without. Oklahoma’s per capita spending on mental health in fiscal year 2010 was an appalling $53.05, 46th among the 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The average per capita spending in the United States is $120.56; that’s 2.27 times what Oklahoma spends.
Read more from the Journal Record.
Quote of the Day
If she could just not worry about the politics and do what’s right for the people of Oklahoma — that’s what her job is. That’s what politicians forget sometimes.
-Chris Gatliff, a Lawton restaurant worker making below the poverty line and a diabetic, on Gov. Fallin’s refusal to accept federal dollars to expand health insurance for the lowest income Oklahomans (Source: http://wapo.st/19aayPT).
Number of the Day
4th
Oklahoma’s rank nationally for the share of residents whose bachelor’s degrees are in education, 21.2 percent versus 16.0 percent nationally
Source: U.S. Census
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
The real Obamacare news on Monday
The biggest news on Monday wasn’t about Obamacare’s poll numbers. It was about Obamacare’s reach. In Michigan, Republican Governor Rick Snyder signed a bill that will expand the state’s Medicaid program, as Obamacare envisions. The signing was the culmination of a long, difficult effort by Synder and a bipartisan, statewide-coalition to overcome Tea Party resistance. In Pennsylvania, Republican Governor Tom Corbett announced that he would no longer block a similar Medicaid expansion, as long as the state legislature enacts a version of the expansion that fits his policy specifications.
Read more from the New Republic.
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