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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.
Rep. David Dank said any bills assigned to his House Appropriations Subcommittee on Revenue and Taxation that have a negative fiscal impact on state revenues won’t be heard, no matter how worthy the cause. Lawmakers are reconsidering the taxpayer-funded incentives that been used by more than two dozen wind developments in the state in recent years. Gov. Mary Fallin has imposed a ban on any new hires or salary increases at state agencies without direct approval by the statewide elected official or Cabinet secretary who directs and manages the agency. On the OK Policy Blog, we examined signs that Oklahoma gaming revenues have peaked.
Oklahoma’s overcrowded prisons need another $26.1 million just to keep from bursting at the seams, says the Department of Corrections. Oklahoma Watch examined how since State Question 640 made it almost impossible to increase taxes, much of the burden of paying for corrections has been shifted to fines and fees on convicted criminals, traffic violators, inmates’ families and others. Oklahoma City Public Schools board members say they learned about a city plan to redirect more downtown tax revenue away from schools and other purposes only after the City Council voted to go ahead with evaluating the plan.
Two lawmakers want to greatly expand a program that would allow state money to be used for private or home schooling expenses. A Senate committee approved legislation aimed at helping protect schools from unknowingly hiring sexual predators. NewsOK reported that Medicaid expansion is still getting no traction in the state Legislature, despite a growing number Republican states that are moving forward to expand coverage. The Oklahoma House has approved prescription drug monitoring legislation that is one of Gov. Mary Fallin’s top priorities for the 2015 Legislature. OK Policy previously examined why a prescription monitoring program is needed.
The Tulsa World wrote in support of House Bill 1673, a proposal to allow some terminally ill patients to end their own lives with prescribed medication. With executions in Oklahoma on hold amid a constitutional review of its lethal injection formula, Republican legislators are pushing to make Oklahoma the first state to allow the use of nitrogen gas in executions. The Tulsa Healthcare Coverage Project is helping small restaurant owners get affordable health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Oklahoma Secretary of State Chris Benge has been named Gov. Mary Fallin’s Native American liaison.
Oklahoma recorded more than three times as many earthquakes as California in 2014 and remains well ahead in 2015. In a three part series (1, 2, 3), the Tulsa World examined the debate over the oil and gas industry’s role in causing earthquakes. Despite a strong consensus among national researchers that oil and gas wastewater injection wells cause earthquakes, the Oklahoma Geological Survey has not issued any final studies on the state’s most damaging earthquakes, and it shelved a plan to seek public comment on “best practices” for oil and gas operations after the energy industry protested.
The Number of the Day is the mean annual wage of a correctional officer in Oklahoma in 2013. In today’s Policy Note, The Crime Report examines how an overburdened court system has led to thousands of Americans, many of them poor, being wrongfully convicted each year for crimes that don’t make headlines.
In The News
Oklahoma House chairman says ‘no’ to more tax credits
Dozens of bills filed this year offering an array of tax deductions for things like hearing aids, child care expenses and certain types of income won’t get a hearing this year in a key House committee, the chairman of the panel announced Monday. Rep. David Dank said any bills assigned to his House Appropriations Subcommittee on Revenue and Taxation that have a negative fiscal impact on state revenues won’t be heard, no matter how worthy the cause.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Wind farms in Oklahoma: Are tax incentives worth the price?
One side considers it a corporate welfare program that the state can no longer afford. The other describes it as an investment that will pay off in the long-term. The debate will play out this year in the Oklahoma Legislature, where lawmakers are reconsidering the taxpayer-funded incentives that have lured more than two dozen wind developments to the state in recent years.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Gov. Mary Fallin orders state agencies to justify hiring, pay increases
Gov. Mary Fallin on Monday ordered stage agencies to justify in writing any new hires or salary increases. Fallin and spokesman Alex Weintz said the order is not a hiring freeze but is intended to make supervisors think twice about payroll decisions in the face of deepening gloom over the revenue outlook for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The order signed Monday prohibits new hires, employee raises or bonuses unless an exception is approved by the statewide elected official who directs and manages the agency or the appropriate Cabinet secretary.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Have Oklahoma gaming revenues peaked?
Ten years after Oklahoma voters approved gaming compacts with Native American tribes and racetrack gaming, the state is collecting over $140 million annually as its share of gaming revenues. However, years of growth in gaming revenue have now ended, which may be a sign that the gaming market in Oklahoma has reached a saturation point.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Bursting prisons need additional $26.1 million to handle growing inmate population, legislators told
Oklahoma’s overcrowded prisons need another $26.1 million just to keep from bursting at the seams, says the Department of Corrections. In presentations last week to House and Senate appropriating committees, DOC Communications Director Terri Watkins said an already burgeoning inmate population is expected grow more than 1,100 during the next budget year, based on recent trends.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Revenue Dilemma at Heart of Rising Offender Fees
More than two decades ago, after Oklahoma voters approved a measure that made passage of tax hikes more difficult, the Legislature and state agencies turned to other ways to help pay for operations and programs. Lawmakers began raising fees and fines and enacting new ones. They were spurred by the approval of State Question 640, which required that all tax increases be approved by either a three-fourths vote of the House and Senate or a majority vote in the next general election.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
Oklahoma City School Board Learns Of Tax Plan After Council Vote
Oklahoma City Public Schools board members say they learned about a city plan to extend the period for redirecting downtown tax revenue away from schools and other purposes only after the City Council voted to go ahead with evaluating the plan. During the meeting, an official from the organization that helps develop the city’s economic-development plans told council members that she spoke with school district officials and they supported the proposal, which would create two new downtown tax-increment financing districts. But school board President Lynne Hardin and members Laura Massenat and Phil Horning now say no one from the city approached them before the Jan. 27 vote.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
‘School choice’ bills pending before Oklahoma Legislature
Oklahoma has a program, which is being challenged in court, that provides money to help pay for children with disabilities to attend private school. Now, two lawmakers want to greatly expand so-called “school choice” options. Their bills would provide state money to parents to seek alternatives to a public school education for their children even if the children do not have disabilities.
Bill Aimed At Protecting OK Schools From Hiring Sexual Predators Moves Forward
Lawmakers approved legislation aimed at helping protect schools from unknowingly hiring sexual predators this week. Senate Bill 301 will soon be considered by the full Senate, officials said. The bill would close a loophole that allows school employees to move from one school district to another after committing sexual crimes against minors.
Medicaid expansion gets no traction in state Legislature
One of the strategic objectives on the state’s new “performance transparency website” calls for sharply decreasing the number of Oklahomans without health insurance.The state could go a long way toward achieving this objective by expanding Oklahoma’s Medicaid system under the federal Affordable Care Act. This would provide health coverage to more than 100,000 low-income people who now lack insurance.
Oklahoma House Passes Prescription Drug Monitoring Bill
The Oklahoma House has approved prescription drug monitoring legislation that is one of Gov. Mary Fallin’s top priorities for the 2015 Legislature. House members voted 64-30 for the measure Monday and sent it to the Senate for debate and a vote. The measure by Republican Rep. Doug Cox of Grove requires health care providers to consult a prescription drug repository before prescribing or refilling opiates and a variety of other narcotics.
See also: Opportunity Missed: the Prescription Monitoring Program in Oklahoma from the OK Policy Blog.
The time has come to legalize death with dignity in Oklahoma
We support House Bill 1673, state Rep. Steve Kouplen’s proposal to allow some terminally ill patients to end their own lives with prescribed medication. Modern medical science is a blessing to humanity. It has extended our lives and our happiness. But it has not banished death or suffering. There comes a time when terminally ill adults who have sound minds should have the informed choice to end their own suffering.
Hear more from the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma Debates Use of Nitrogen Gas for Executions
With executions in Oklahoma on hold amid a constitutional review of its lethal injection formula, Republican legislators are pushing to make Oklahoma the first state to allow the use of nitrogen gas in executions. Two bills scheduled for hearings this week in legislative committees would make death by “nitrogen hypoxia” a backup method.
Read more from The New York Times.
Local group helps Tulsa restaurant owners find health coverage through Affordable Care Act
Ever since Ponteha Nikjou’s parents came to America, they’ve worked hard and paid taxes. They’ve raised two children, owned businesses and contributed to the community in many ways. But until now, they’ve never had health insurance. “We’re the literal American dream,” Nikjou said. “My parents came here with nothing.” Thanks to the Tulsa Healthcare Coverage Project, the family has health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. They have an affordable premium thanks to government subsidies, and they have peace of mind.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Hey, California: Oklahoma had 3 times as many earthquakes in 2014
Earthquakes are synonymous with California to most Americans, but West Coasters might be surprised to learn they’re far from the new center of the seismic landscape in the United States. Oklahoma recorded more than three times as many earthquakes as California in 2014 and remains well ahead in 2015.
Read more from the Center for Investigative Reporting.
Quake Debate: Science questioned while state’s earthquake studies go unfinished
Inside a cluttered metal shed behind his rural Noble County home, Mark Crismon stares at a glowing laptop screen. The spiked heartbeat crawling across the screen tells him what he already knows: The earth is shaking. Again.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: Scientists warn of potential for ‘large earthquake’ as injection well discussion continues from the Tulsa World; ‘We don’t work in a vacuum,’ Oklahoma state seismologist says from the Tulsa World
Gov. Mary Fallin names Secretary of State Chris Benge as Native American liaison
Oklahoma Secretary of State Chris Benge has been named Gov. Mary Fallin’s Native American liaison. Fallin made the appointment Monday in an executive order in which she established her cabinet for her second four-year term.
Quote of the Day
“It’s the equivalent of saying I can’t take a job because it’s going to cost me additional money in gas, clothing and childcare, without considering I’d also make a salary. They look at the expenditure side only, so that’s not a look at a full or fair picture.”
-OK Policy Executive Director David Blatt, responding to claims by the Governor’s office that accepting federal funds to expand coverage health coverage for low-income Oklahomans would be too costly. Although the state cost to expand coverage is about $850 million over 10 years, net savings from the expansion are estimated at nearly $500 million (Source: bit.ly/1y3mbTn).
Number of the Day
$33,400
Mean annual wage of a correctional officer in Oklahoma in 2013.
Source: Oklahoma Employment Security Commission
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
America’s Guilt Mill
When Rachel Jernigan was falsely accused of robbing a Gilbert, Ariz., bank 15 years ago, she expected the American criminal justice system to do the right thing. “They tried to get me to plead guilty,” Jernigan says. “They told me they were going to give me 27 years (in prison). But I said I’m not going to plead guilty for something I didn’t do. I really believed I was going to come home from my trial. I was shocked when the jury found me guilty.” Sentenced to 14 years, she spent more than seven years in prison before the real robber was identified by Jernigan’s determination and a fluke twist.
Read more from The Crime Report.
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