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Today you should know that Oklahoma City school officials are considering spending $100k on a structural review of a school building worked on by the same firm that designed tornado-damaged Briarwood Elementary. The Journal Record asked why there is an apparent lack of concern from legislators after it was revealed that a contractor used faulty construction methods in two Moore schools that collapsed in a tornado. Oklahoma high school seniors in 2014 are the first graduating class required to learn financial literacy.
More than 630,000 Oklahomans suffer from some form of mental illness, ranking Oklahoma as one of the worst states in the nation for overall mental health. The number of flu-related deaths this year in Oklahoma has risen to 51. House members criticized the portrayal of Oklahoma in the film “August: Osage County” when they voted against extending tax incentives for the film industry. The incentives failed by three votes with 10 lawmakers not voting, and they will likely be brought up again in the House.
New Speaker of the House Jeff Hickman announced several changes in committee leadership. A bill is moving forward to create a Native American affairs cabinet position within the Governor’s office. Owasso Republican Randy Brogdon announced that he is ending a primary challenge against Governor Fallin to run for the U.S. Senate. An upcoming free public lecture will discuss meeting the needs of infants and toddlers in the child welfare system.
The Number of the Day is the percentage of Oklahomans aged 18 or older who experienced serious mental illness in 2011-2012. In today’s Policy Note, Washington Monthly explains why Texas’s recent record of economic growth crumbles upon inspection.
In The News
OKC considers spending $100k to examine construction of school
Oklahoma City school district officials are calling for the structural review of a school building worked on by the same architectural and engineering firm that designed tornado-damaged Briarwood Elementary. Board members will decide Monday whether to pay a law firm up to $100,000 to coordinate the independent inspection of Oklahoma Centennial Mid-High School, 1301 NE 101. Briarwood’s design and construction quality have been called into question by Chris Ramseyer, an associate professor at the University of Oklahoma and one of several structural engineers who combed through the debris left at the school.
Still no outrage over school construction
A story was published on the front page of The Journal Record’s Feb. 21 issues with the headline: “Deathtrap – Moore tornado debris reveals construction flaws, code violations.” The story appeared after months of research. But it started with a simple conversation at the state Capitol. Chris Ramseyer, a University of Oklahoma engineering professor, was part of a team asked to explain what might have been done in the design and construction of the Briarwood and Plaza Towers schools that would have prevented the injuries and deaths that occurred May 20 when the buildings were destroyed by an EF5 tornado.
Read more from the Journal Record.
Graduating Oklahoma students will be first class required to learn financial literacy
Oklahoma is about to coronate one of the most comprehensive statewide school-based financial education programs in the country. Beginning this May, to graduate from high school students must demonstrate an understanding of 14 wide-ranging money management concepts. The Class of 2014 can rightfully consider itself Guinea pigs. These students were in the seventh grade when the Oklahoma law kicked in, and for the first time mandated that kids learn about money between the grades of seven and 12. It’s up to the schools to decide when and how.
Oklahoma ranks near the bottom in new mental health study
More than 630,000 Oklahomans suffer from some form of mental illness, ranking Oklahoma as one of the worst states in the nation for overall mental health, according to a new report released by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Oklahoma trails only West Virginia for the percentage of residents with a severe mental illness, and only Utah in the percentage of residents suffering from mental illness of any kind. “The report is startling,” said Oklahoma Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Commissioner Terri White. “Oklahoma has the biggest problem in the nation and is struggling with these things that are treatable.”
Death toll from flu in Oklahoma rises to 51
Three more people in Oklahoma have died from the flu, the State Department of Health reported Thursday, adding to the record number of influenza-related deaths in the state. The department said 51 people have now died as a result of the viral disease during the current flu season that started in late September. The previous record of 46 flu-related deaths in 2009, the year that Oklahoma health officials began tracking the statistic, was first broken last week.
Read more from the Associated Press.
‘August: Osage County’ image of Oklahoma turns State House against film incentives
The treatment given “August: Osage County” by the critics and the Academy Awards was nothing compared to the way it was kicked around Monday by the Oklahoma House of Representatives. “A movie almost nobody saw!” “Filth!” “We don’t need that kind of thing around here!” Critics — and there were plenty of them — said the movie about a flawed Oklahoma family and its overbearing matriarch was a prime example of why the state’s film-incentive program should not be renewed.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
New Speaker of the House Hickman announces changes in leadership
The newly elected speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives has announced several changes to the chairs and vice chairs of various House committees. Among the major changes were Norman Rep. Aaron Stiles replacing Rep. Leslie Osborn as chair of the Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Mike Reynolds replacing Rep. Jason Murphey as chair of the Government Modernization and Accountability Committee. Osborn will now chair a budget subcommittee instead. Hickman also named Rep. Earl Sears of Bartlesville to replace Rep. Tom Newell as vice-chair of the powerful House Appropriations and Budget Committee.
Native American cabinet position proposed in Oklahoma
A proposal to create a cabinet-level position focusing on Native American affairs within the Governor’s Office would be a positive step in improving the relationships between Oklahoma and its 39 tribes, tribal leaders say. Rep. Chuck Hoskin, D-Vinita, authored a bill that elevates the Oklahoma Native American liaison to a cabinet-level position. The Secretary of Native American Affairs, whose salary would be capped at $65,000, would consult and advise the governor on tribal policy issues. The General Government Committee approved the bill by a 9-1 vote on Feb. 20.
Read more from the Claremore Daily Progress.
Republican Randy Brogdon enters U.S. Senate race
Randy Brogdon, an Owasso Republican who quietly announced in December that he was running for governor, quietly announced Monday he had shifted to the race to succeed U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn. Brogdon, a former state senator who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2010, put a statement on his Facebook and Web pages saying he was running for the U.S. Senate because both parties had created “a full-fledged spending crisis.” In his statement, Brogdon aligned himself with groups that are funding challengers to sitting Republican lawmakers for not being conservative enough.
Upcoming event: Policy & Practice lecture series discusses infant mental health in the child welfare system
On March 6, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) will host Dr. Brenda Jones Harden for her lecture “Infant Mental Health: Meeting the Needs of Infants and Toddlers in the Child Welfare System” as part of its Policy & Practice lecture series. Dr. Jones Harden will discuss an infant-centered approach to child welfare service delivery with an emphasis on providing mental health interventions to this population.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Quote of the Day
Oklahomans cannot be expected to put their children in a box with only the hope that the walls were built right. The pupils’ safety is entrusted to the elected officials who are responsible for the public buildings built with taxpayer money. Where are they?
-The Journal Record, writing about an apparent lack of concern from legislators after it was revealed that a contractor used faulty construction methods in the two Moore schools that collapsed in a tornado (Source: http://bit.ly/1mSjIeS)
Number of the Day
5.24 percent
Percentage of Oklahomans aged 18 or older who experienced serious mental illness in 2011-2012, the second highest rate in the nation.
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Oops: The Texas miracle that isn’t
Is Texas our future? The question got kicked around during the last presidential campaign when Texas Governor Rick Perry was briefly riding high. Everywhere Perry went he appealed to Republican primary voters by describing what he called the “Texas Miracle.” As Perry told conservative talk show host Glenn Beck, “Since June 2009, about 48 percent of all the jobs created in America were in Texas. Come add to it.”
Read more from the Washington Monthly.
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