OKPOLICY.ORG
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 a push to build tornado shelters in Oklahoma is being threatened by lawmakers’ desire to further reduce business taxes. Rep. Doug Cox wrote that meeting state agency needs in needs year’s budget would cost far more than expected revenues. An Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling could mean the state Department of Public Safety must refund at least $11 million to drivers in alcohol-related cases.
The Tulsa World and The Oklahoman both reported on challenges for schools and students in high-poverty areas. In a NewsOK op-ed, Superindent Janet Barresi admitted that poverty is a factor in education. The okeducationtruths blog discussed how schools are still waiting to hear if they will be targeted for improvement efforts by the state.
Oklahoma’s public transit systems in Oklahoma City and Tulsa are seeing more riders, despite offering limited service compared to most large cities. The OK Policy Blog previously shared how Oklahoma City’s lack of transit options prevent an Oklahoman with a disability from finding a job. Oklahoma City mayoral candidate Ed Shadid’s 2005 divorce records revealed further details about drug use and fights with his wife. Lawmakers are looking to make it easier to prosecute those who sell synthetic marijuana.
Deaconess Hospital plans to close almost 60 mental health beds, putting further pressure Oklahoma’s mental health system that already doesn’t serve most of those in need. House Speaker TW Shannon blamed overcrowding in county jails on former Corrections Director Justin Jones’ opposition to private prisons.
After hours struggling with technical difficulties, Oklahoma Watch reporter Warren Vieth was able to purchase insurance on Healthcare.gov. Vieth and his wife were previously turned down for private insurance because of preexisting conditions. Two same-sex couples who sued for the right to marry in Oklahoma nine years ago are still waiting for their day in court.
The Number of the Day is per inmate health care spending in Oklahoma’s correctional facilities, 35th least among the states. In today’s Policy Note, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explains why U.S. tax incentives for retirement are costly and poorly targeted.
In The News
Plan for school shelters threatened by Okla. tax cut
After a huge tornado ripped through the Oklahoma City suburbs this spring and demolished two elementary schools, killing seven children, a longtime legislator thought the time was ripe for the state to act on a well-known problem. Although Oklahoma averages more than 50 tornadoes a year, and sometimes gets more than 100, about 60 percent of public schools have no shelters. Cash-strapped districts can’t afford to build them. But the response to his proposal has made clear that there’s something more ominous than tornadoes these days in one of the nation’s most conservative states: taxes and borrowing.
Read more from the Associated Press.
Too much month at the end of the money
I am often asked, “What does the Legislature actually do over there in Oklahoma City?” The main task of the Legislature is to craft a budget for our state’s government – the state agencies and the services they provide. Early estimates say we may have a potential increase of state dollars amounting to $43 million more than was available last year. “Well”, you may say, “that should make the Legislature’s job easy.” The problem is that most agencies have all given good reasons why they all need more money than they were given last year. These new requests add up to far more than the increase in available funds.
Read more from the Pryor Daily Times.
Court ruling could cost Oklahoma Department of Public Safety $11 million
An Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling could mean the state Department of Public Safety must refund at least $11 million to drivers in alcohol-related cases. The court earlier this week rejected DPS’ appeal of a lower court ruling that said affidavits used in DUI breath tests did not comply with state law. The affidavits have since been changed, but more than 37,000 drivers arrested for alcohol-related offenses from June 2008 until October could receive refunds of fees related to the revocation and reinstatement of their driver’s licenses.
Read more from the Associated Press.
Oklahoma’s urban schools face numerous challenges
Public schools are under pressure to do much more than teach reading, writing and arithmetic, and nowhere are those pressures more keenly felt than in the inner city. A crush of poverty, higher mobility rates and absenteeism, a lack of parental involvement and a greater population of non-English-speaking students in urban schools directly affect student achievement. In Oklahoma, this is borne out in the state Department of Education’s recent release of A-F school grades, which are based on test scores.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: A look at the factors that contributed to A-F grades from Oklahoma City schools from NewsOK
Superintendent Barresi: Poverty a factor, not an excuse, in education
In Oklahoma, around 60 percent of public school students in kindergarten through 12th grade are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. There are significant ramifications to the grim reality of poverty in our schools, but they are not irreversible. Too many children come to school hungry, tired and ill-prepared to learn. More than half of Oklahoma kids in poverty are living with a single parent, many of whom are holding down two or more jobs just to make ends meet. Many of these children don’t have the benefit of an adult helping them with their homework, much less the use of books or a home computer. There are more disturbing potential scenarios.
Waiting on school designations
For the last few months, much of the public education narrative has been focusing on the release, problems with, and reactions to Oklahoma’s A-F Report Cards. Soon – eventually – the less publicized, but more impactful accountability measure will be released. I’m talking about federal designations. While the letter grades schools receive don’t require them to take any action, being placed in one of the school improvement designations does. Here we are, the last week in December before Christmas Break, and schools still have not received their designations.
Read more from okeducationtruths.
Oklahoma’s limited transit systems see more riders
Oklahoma’s biggest transit systems, often used by low-income people, provide less service than those of other cities in the region, but ridership is on the increase, federal data shows. After a decline two years ago, the number of trips taken by riders in the four largest systems has rebounded and promises to increase further as Oklahoma City and Tulsa implement changes that will boost the frequency of bus service. From fiscal 2007 to 2011, the number of annual boardings in the four transit systems — almost all of it on buses — rose to well over 7 million, then slipped to 6.9 million. In the past two years, the count has risen to above 7.5 million.
Contents of OKC mayoral candidate Ed Shadid’s divorce records revealed
Oklahoma City Councilman and mayoral candidate Ed Shadid used cocaine on two occasions and destroyed property during arguments with his wife before entering an addiction treatment center, according to sealed divorce records reviewed by Oklahoma Gazette. When asked about the records, acquired from Gazette sources, Shadid said he is ready for the anticipated public reaction later this week if the full divorce file is unsealed. “But I don’t want (ex-wife) Dina (Hammam) or the children to be hurt. I don’t want the (addiction) recovery movement to be hurt. I’m at peace with my past. I still have regret and a healthy amount of shame, but I can look at myself in the mirror and know I’ve done so much hard work the last nine years learning to love myself.”
Read more from the Oklahoma Gazette.
Synthetic pot targeted by lawmakers
With Oklahoma district attorneys struggling to prosecute those who sell synthetic marijuana to the public, lawmakers are hoping a change in the state’s drug laws will lead to more convictions. Police raid head shops and convenience stores and haul off fake pot, but court records show that many store owners have avoided convictions because prosecutors cannot prove the substances are actually illegal. The new approach being proposed by members of the Legislature will create seven synthetic drug categories. If synthetic marijuana confiscated in a bust is tested and falls into one of those categories it can be used in prosecution, regardless of the specific chemical makeup.
With hospital’s closure, Oklahoma County will have almost 60 fewer mental health beds
Deaconess Hospital plans to close a Bethany medical facility that provides almost 60 inpatient adult psychiatric beds, further straining the regional medical care system for those with severe mental illness. Mental health and law enforcement officials say the closure will further pressure Oklahoma’s mental health system. A majority of people in Oklahoma who need mental health treatment do not receive it. The state ranks among the top 10 states of adults struggling with mental illness. Terri White, the state’s mental health commissioner, said less psychiatric care options mean more problems.
Speaker TW Shannon blames jail overcrowding on former DOC Director’s opposition to private prisons
The backlog of sentenced state prisoners in county jails like Cleveland County’s is a result of failed past leadership in the Department of Corrections, House Speaker T.W. Shannon told a Norman civic club audience Thursday. The Lawton legislator, who will preside over his second legislative session in February, said private prisons could hold another 2,400 prisoners. Cleveland County’s F. DeWayne Beggs Detention Center had 492 inmates Thursday, with 156 of them awaiting a state prison bed. He said the Department of Corrections leadership is changing and a new director will be named. Past director Justin Jones has expressed concern about over-reliance on private prisons in the state.
Read more from The Norman Transcript.
In a marathon search for insurance, Healthcare.gov gives way
Breakthrough! Yes, the Obamacare website is working. At least for me. After 20 rounds of unsuccessful sign-up attempts and nearly 17 hours spent online or on the phone, I finally made it through the registration process and received my eligibility confirmation on Round 21. Quick recap: My employment status is changing on Jan. 1. I will no longer qualify for employer-provided health insurance. My wife and I were turned down for private market insurance in mid-2013 because of preexisting conditions. We need a new plan.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
Oklahoma gay marriage ban lawsuit still pending 9 years later
Two same-sex couples who sued for the right to marry in conservative Oklahoma knew it would be a struggle, but they couldn’t have expected that nine years later, they would still be awaiting their day in court. Their federal lawsuit is the longest-running active lawsuit against the Defense of Marriage Act, according to national gay marriage advocacy group Freedom to Marry. Mary Bishop and Sharon Baldwin, a Tulsa couple together for 17 years, and another couple filed the lawsuit in November 2004, shortly after Oklahoma voters overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
Read more from the Associated Press.
Quote of the Day
Too many children come to school hungry, tired and ill-prepared to learn. More than half of Oklahoma kids in poverty are living with a single parent, many of whom are holding down two or more jobs just to make ends meet. Many of these children don’t have the benefit of an adult helping them with their homework, much less the use of books or a home computer.
-State Superintendent Janet Barresi (Source: http://bit.ly/18LGs4D)
Number of the Day
$3,935
Per inmate health care spending in Oklahoma’s correctional facilities, 35th least among the states (FY 2008)
Source: The Pew Charitable Trusts
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Tax incentives for retirement savings are ripe for reform
Reforming the costly and poorly targeted tax incentives for retirement saving could not only raise revenue for deficit reduction and tax reform goals, but also do more to encourage low- and moderate-income households — the people who most need to boost their retirement assets — to save more, our new paper explains. In all, tax incentives for retirement savings plans like 401(k)s, IRAs, and traditional pensions cost well over $100 billion a year. Yet they appear to do little, relative to their high cost, to encourage new saving. That’s because the bulk of their benefits go to higher-income households, who are the most likely to respond by shifting existing assets into tax-preferred accounts rather than by raising their total savings.
Read more from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
