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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.
Oklahoma law enforcement agencies received more than $33 million worth of military-grade equipment in a controversial program that allows local law enforcement agencies to acquire surplus military weapons and vehicles. Equipment going to Oklahoma agencies include an airplane, 11 helicopters, more than 30 mine-resistant vehicles, 1,027 rifles and 227 pistols. The Washington Post profiled the founder of a private firm that had been seizing property from drivers on Oklahoma highways for the district attorney’s office until a judge intervened. The OK Policy Blog previously discussed the controversy over allowing policing for profit by a private company.
Hospitals in Oklahoma are projected to lose more than $4 billion in reimbursements between 2013-22 because the state chose not to expand Medicaid, and Oklahoma hospital executives said they have had to institute layoffs to offset the lost revenue. Local school officials say the Oklahoma State Department of Education has violated state and federal laws protecting student privacy by releasing information to districts about students who no longer attend their schools. The state Regents have launched an online dashboard for students to find data comparing Oklahoma’s colleges and universities. You can view the online dashboard here.
The latest episode of the OK PolicyCast discusses a couple of lawsuits before the Oklahoma Supreme Court that could dramatically change tax politics in the state. The Tulsa World reported that the undocumented immigrant population in the U.S. has leveled off while children who are becoming adults seek ways to become U.S. citizens. YWCA Tulsa and Dream Act Oklahoma are sponsoring a screening of ‘Documented’, a film by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas who outed himself as an undocumented immigrant in an essay published in the New York Times Magazine. You can purchase tickets here.
In 2012, unintentional prescription drug overdoses claimed the lives of 534 Oklahomans, half of whom had taken drugs prescribed by their own doctors. The Oklahoma City Council delayed a final decision on regulations of new “rideshare” companies Uber and Lyft. In a series on the legacy of departing US Sen. Tom Coburn, NewsOK discussed his efforts to rein in tax breaks for wealthy. Steve Lackmeyer discussed OKC Mayor Mick Cornett’s recent appearance on Meet the Press. You can see the segment here.
The Number of the Day is the percentage of households in Oklahoma that were smoke free in 2010-2011. In today’s Policy Note, the New York Times what’s behind sharply reduced estimates for the cost of Medicare, which will save the federal government more than the total cost of unemployment insurance, welfare and Amtrak combined.
In The News
Oklahoma law-enforcement agencies stock up on military-grade equipment
Toward the back of a fenced-in parking lot in this central Oklahoma town sits a tan armored truck designed to help protect soldiers from roadside bombs. Standing close to nine-feet tall and weighing about 24 tons, the massive vehicle still sports a few bullet divots in one of the windows from when it was used by the military overseas. The Shawnee Police Department obtained the vehicle through a federal program that allows local law enforcement agencies to acquire surplus military equipment. So far, the agency hasn’t had a reason to use its new purchase, but Chief Russell Frantz said the vehicle will be valuable during natural disasters and other situations.
Training by private firm fueled law enforcement aggressiveness
During the rush to improve homeland security a decade ago, an invitation went out from Congress to a newly retired California highway patrolman named Joe David. David had developed an uncanny talent for finding cocaine and cash in cars and trucks, beginning along the remote highways of the Mojave Desert. His reputation had spread among police officers after he started a training firm in 1989 to teach his homegrown stop-and-seizure techniques. He called it Desert Snow. In January last year, David hired himself and his top trainers out as a roving private interdiction unit for the district attorney’s office in rural Caddo County, Okla.
Read more from the Washington Post.
Previously: Policing for profit in Oklahoma from the OK Policy Blog
Hospital officials frustrated with financial losses since state did not expand Medicaid
Tulsa hospital executives are frustrated at losing out on reimbursements because of what they say are purely political decisions. Hospitals in Oklahoma are projected to lose more than $4 billion in reimbursements between 2013-22 because the state chose not to expand Medicaid, according to a recent report by the Urban Institute. Some Tulsa hospitals have had to institute layoffs to offset some of the lost revenue. “It’s a crisis,” said Kevin Gross, CEO of Hillcrest Hospital.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
School officials say state Education Department violated school privacy laws
Some area school officials say the Oklahoma State Department of Education has violated state and federal laws protecting student privacy by releasing information to districts about students who no longer attend their schools. “If (the students have) left us, we really shouldn’t have access to that information,” said Larry Smith, deputy superintendent at Sapulpa Public Schools. The data include student grades, disability status, and free and reduced-lunch status. Smith said he noticed that the information was on the department’s secure website last week.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Regents launch online dashboard to find higher education data
The “tremendous wealth of data” available about Oklahoma’s higher education system can help students succeed in college and spend less time and money to earn a degree. So says Tony Hutchison, the system’s vice chancellor for strategic planning, analysis and workforce and economic development. And now everyone has easy access to that data in real time through a new Web-based dashboard system — the Oklahoma Education Information System — launched Thursday by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
View the online dashboard here.
OK PolicyCast: Episode 6
Each week we bring you the most important news affecting Oklahoma, and what it means. This week, we discuss a couple of lawsuits before the Oklahoma Supreme Court that could dramatically change tax politics in the state. We also talk about controversies over tax incentives for private businesses, a new campaign by the mayors of OKC and Tulsa to reduce their cities’ dependency on sales tax, a state lawmaker’s comments that has Oklahoma Muslims upset, key numbers of the week, & more.
Listen to the podcast on the OK Policy Blog.
Undocumented immigrant growth stalls as young adults seek pathways to citizenship
The undocumented immigrant population has leveled off while children who are becoming adults seek ways to become U.S. citizens, according to two studies released this week by nonprofits. One nonprofit reviewed how changes in the priorities and criteria for deportation would have affected removals during the past decade. The Pew Research Center found the number of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. has remained nearly the same since 2009 and shows no signs of rising. It is based on census data.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: ‘Documented’ movie screening by YWCA Tulsa and Dream Act Oklahoma
At least one Oklahoman will die today from prescription drug overdose
In 2012, unintentional prescription drug overdoses claimed the lives of 534 Oklahomans. State health authorities say about half of them had taken drugs prescribed by their own doctors. And, had it not been for complaints from the public, their prescribing practices might never have been discovered. While much of Oklahoma’s enforcement efforts are aimed at drug-seekers, far less effort is dedicated to identifying, investigating and pursuing the problem providers — the doctors who supply the sometimes deadly dosages.
‘Rideshare’ rules face delay in Oklahoma City
Give taxis and limousines the same flexibility as Uber and Lyft to adjust fares. Prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation by “rideshare” drivers. Those are some of the wide-ranging ideas Oklahoma City Council members have for amending a proposed update of the city’s vehicle-for-hire rules. The council is set to discuss the amendments Tuesday morning at City Hall. Though a final decision had been expected, that’s been pushed back and now could be months away.
U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn targets tax breaks for the ‘well-heeled’
As he roots out waste and laments misguided spending priorities, U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn often has a special target: the wealthy. Coburn refers to members of that group as “the well-heeled and the well-connected.” Earlier this year, he said the architects of a particular proposal in the farm bill were “trying to protect the well-heeled and the well-connected in agriculture.” In a debate over pork barrel projects in 2007, he admonished his colleagues, “Your duty is to the country as a whole, not to the well-heeled special interests who are the beneficiaries.”
Immediate thoughts on OKC on Meet the Press
It’s really quite something that Oklahoma City was not just featured, but showcased in this inaugural episode with new host Chuck Todd – an episode that included an interview with President Barack Obama. – Oklahoma City was listed along with Houston, Tacoma and Pittsburgh. The segment began with a map showing a couple dozen cities across the country that are getting things done DESPITE the nonsense going on in Washington, D.C. (and as with Oklahoma, it’s state capitol). Yet the show featured just one city – Oklahoma City.
See also: Mayors making progress from NBC News
Quote of the Day
“It’s a journey to get people who have never been a part of the workforce adept to the expectations of employers. We’re trying to impart those skills that employers are looking for. All too often they see a criminal conviction and exclude someone, and we know that without jobs they will keep going back to prison.”
-Kelly Doyle, state director of the Center for Employment Opportunities, which tries to help men and women who are coming out of prison obtain employment (Source: http://bit.ly/1tlUq82)
Number of the Day
76%
Households in Oklahoma that were smoke free in 2010-2011, up from 39 percent in 1991-1992.
Source: Centers for Disease Control via NPR
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Medicare: Not such a budget-buster anymore
You’re looking at the biggest story involving the federal budget and a crucial one for the future of the American economy. Every year for the last six years in a row, the Congressional Budget Office has reduced its estimate for how much the federal government will need to spend on Medicare in coming years. The latest reduction came in a report from the budget office on Wednesday morning. The changes are big. The difference between the current estimate for Medicare’s 2019 budget and the estimate for the 2019 budget four years ago is about $95 billion. That sum is greater than the government is expected to spend that year on unemployment insurance, welfare and Amtrak — combined.
Read more from The New York Times.
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