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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 or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or RSS. The podcast theme music is by Zébre.
Records show that the same drugs were used in the botched lethal injections in Arizona on Wednesday and in Oklahoma nearly three months ago. The Tulsa World reports that the probe into Oklahoma’s botched execution is still pending and that a variety of records, including the autopsy report for the deceased prisoner, still have not been released. A research group has found that Texas and Oklahoma, two states whose leadership most vociferously oppose EPA regulation on carbon pollution, would be the biggest economic winners from that regulation due to increased demand for natural gas. The study’s authors note that the increased natural gas production would drive job creation and corporate revenue in producing states. StateImpact discussed conflict and conversation around increasing wind energy production in Oklahoma’s Osage County.
The federal government says that more than 200 unaccompanied children from Central America who had been housed at Fort Sill have been placed with sponsors in Oklahoma, primarily parents, relatives and family friends. The government also says that all the children have been vaccinated and medically cleared. OK Policy previously debunked some of the myths being spread about the children at Fort Sill. A team of child abuse medical experts, who have served as expert witnesses in countless Oklahoma court cases, will be disbanded due to lack of funding.
On Monday, August 4th, OK Policy will honor Governor Henry Bellmon with the 2014 Good Sense/Good Cents Award, followed by a panel discussion of the Bellmon legacy. The event is free and open to the public. A provision of the Affordable Care Act called the Medical Loss Ratio Rule, which requires health insurance companies to spend at least 80 percent of premium dollars on patient care and quality improvement, has generated $6.7 million in refunds to Oklahomans from health insurance companies this summer. The Tulsa World reported on a Tulsa Community College program that allows prisoners to work towards degrees while in prison. Since 2007, more than 345 certificates and degrees have been awarded to inmates. Some anti-abortion laws passed by the legislature this spring may end of up in court.
The chairman of the state Workers Compensation Commission has rescinded bids for a project discussed during a secret meeting and pledged greater transparency moving forward. The Commission has come under scrutiny recently due to alleged violations of the Open Records Act. A study conducted by Southwestern Oklahoma State University reported on the financial impact of the Oklahoma Army National Guard, finding that for every 100 jobs created by the Guard, 127 are created statewide.
Norman residents are upset after city staff admitted to withholding information regarding a zoning change in southeast Norman that could bring a Wal-Mart Supercenter to the area. The Oklahoman argued in favor of better maintenance of the state’s dams due to public safety concerns. Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman has named the final three members to a nine-person committee that will oversee the renovation of the state Capitol. Other committee members were selected by Gov. Fallin and House Speaker Jeff Hickman.
The Number of the Day is the percentage of wage and salary workers in Oklahoma that were members of a union in 2013. In today’s Policy Note, the New Republic reports on the sexual and gender-based violence forcing children to flee Central America.
In The News
Oklahoma’s execution protocol includes same drugs used in Arizona execution, records show
Oklahoma’s execution protocol includes the same drugs used during an Arizona execution that took nearly two hours Wednesday, records show. One of the drugs used in the Arizona execution, midazolam, was used in Oklahoma’s botched execution of Clayton Lockett April 29. Experts have said the drug is a sedative rather than an anesthetic and have questioned its effectiveness to anesthetize a person being executed. Nearly three months after Lockett’s execution, which took 43 minutes, results of a state investigation are still pending. Results of an autopsy by the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s office still have not been released.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Three months later, Oklahoma execution probe pending
Oklahoma’s execution protocol includes the same drugs used during an Arizona execution that took nearly two hours Wednesday, records show. One of the drugs used in the Arizona execution, midazolam, was used in Oklahoma’s botched execution of Clayton Lockett April 29. Experts have said the drug is a sedative rather than an anesthetic and have questioned its effectiveness to anesthetize a person being executed. Arizona used midazolam and hydromorphone to execute Joseph Rudolph Wood on Wednesday night. That combination of drugs plus potassium chloride is among the choices under Oklahoma’s current execution protocol.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
States Against E.P.A. Rule on Carbon Pollution Would Gain, Study Finds
Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and Senator James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma are among the most vocal Republican skeptics of the science that burning fossil fuels contributes to global warming, but a new study to be released Thursday found that their states would be among the biggest economic winners under a regulation proposed by President Obama to fight climate change. The study, conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Rhodium Group, both research organizations, concluded that the regulation would cut demand for electricity from coal — the nation’s largest source of carbon pollution — but create robust new demand for natural gas.
Read more from The New York Times.
Why Oklahoma’s Wind Energy Future Could be Shaped by Osage County
Oklahoma is moving up the national ranks in wind-generated electricity. But as wind farms expand into northeastern Oklahoma, developers are facing a team of unlikely allies: oil interests and environmentalists. Wind farm developers encounter opposition wherever projects are planned, but the debate in Oklahoma is perhaps most magnified in Osage County, where there’s a confluence of money, government and prairie politics. While many Oklahomans are excited about the promises of wind energy — fewer carbon emissions and regular royalty checks for leased land, to name a few — the industry is facing entrenched resistance.
Immigrant Children At Fort Sill Being Placed With Sponsors
The federal government says more than 200 unaccompanied children in Oklahoma have been placed with sponsors so far this year. The federal government released a state-by-state breakdown Thursday of the numbers of unaccompanied minors in each state that have been placed with parents, relatives or family friends. The federal government says that from Jan. 1 to July 7, 212 unaccompanied children have been placed with a sponsor. Hundreds of teenagers have been housed at a troop barracks at Fort Sill in southwest Oklahoma after detention centers near the border were overwhelmed with an influx of young people crossing the border.
Feds Say Immigrant Children All Medically Cleared
The federal government says more than 200 unaccompanied children in Oklahoma have been placed with sponsors so far this year. The federal government released a state-by-state breakdown Thursday of the numbers of unaccompanied minors in each state that have been placed with parents, relatives or family friends. The federal government says that from Jan. 1 to July 7, 212 unaccompanied children have been placed with a sponsor. Hundreds of teenagers have been housed at a troop barracks at Fort Sill in southwest Oklahoma after detention centers near the border were overwhelmed with an influx of young people crossing the border. The federal government says that all of the minors who have been placed with children have been vaccinated and medically cleared.
See also: Debunking myths about migrant children at Fort Sill from the OK Policy blog.
Oklahoma child protection team will disband due to lack of funding
Over the past 39 years, Dr. John Stuemky has sat before hundreds of juries. Many times, his perspective as a child abuse medical expert was a key decision on whether an alleged abuser was prosecuted. Photo – Image via Thinkstock Image via Thinkstock “It’s a deciding factor 90 percent of the time,” he said. But after December, the services that he and other child abuse medical experts have provided in countless court cases will be limited because of a funding dilemma the OU College of Medicine’s pediatrics department is facing.
Upcoming Event: The Legacy of Gov. Henry Bellmon
Oklahoma Policy Institute will honor Governor Henry Bellmon with the 2014 Good Sense/Good Cents Award, followed by a panel discussion on the Bellmon legacy, on Monday August 4th from 1:00 – 3:00 pm at the Lorton Performance Center on the University of Tulsa Campus. The events are free and open to the public. The Good Sense/Good Cents award will be presented to Gov. Bellmon’s daughters Ann Denney and Pat Hoerth by Tulsa Mayor Dewey F. Bartlett Jr., whose father, Dewey F. Bartlett Sr., succeeded Henry Bellmon as Governor and served concurrently with him in the United States Senate. The annual award honors political leaders whose political service is distinguished by a commitment to respectful political dialogue, sound fiscal stewardship, and concern for the less fortunate. The inaugural recipients of the award in 2013 were Mayors Robert LaFortune of Tulsa and Melvin Moran of Seminole.
Read more from the OK Policy blog.
Affordable Care Act 80/20 rule will provide refunds to many Oklahomans
Refunds from health insurance companies operating in Oklahoma, to be paid this summer in accordance with the 80/20 rule of the Affordable Care Act, mostly will come from a single insurance company. The 80/20 rule, also known as the Medical Loss Ratio rule, requires insurers to spend at least 80 percent of premium dollars on patient care and quality improvement. According to Alex Kotran, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Oklahoma residents will get $6.7 million in refunds from health insurance companies this summer. UnitedHealthcare owes refunds of nearly $5.5 million to customers in small and large group markets.
Prisoners earn degrees through Tulsa Community College while behind bars
Richard Ewalt has spent the last 18 years in prison as part of a life sentence for his role in a fatal drive-by shooting. Determined to do more than idly serve his time, he enrolled in college courses seven years ago when Tulsa Community College started its Second Chance program at the Dick Conner Correctional Center. On Thursday Ewalt realized the culmination of his efforts when he received his associate’s degree in applied science at a graduation ceremony held in the prison’s medium-security chapel.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
More Oklahoma abortion restrictions could end up in court
In recent years, courts have struck down several measures passed by the Oklahoma Legislature to restrict abortions. Backers of two more such measures, due to go into effect Nov. 1, expressed confidence Thursday that this time their legislation will hold up legally — an opinion disputed by an attorney for a group that has successfully sued the state in the past. “I believe that undoubtedly there will be a legal challenge,” said Sen. Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City. “I think we are on safe legal ground, and that it is very defensible, although I can’t say unequivocally, because when it goes to a courtroom, you never know what an individual judge could rule.”
Workers Comp Chairman rescinds bid discussed in secret meeting
Bids for a project discussed during a secret meeting of the Workers Compensation Commission have been rescinded and will be sought again “using the most transparent process possible,” the commission’s chairman said. Commission Chairman Troy Wilson said in a release he has rescinded bids the agency sought for an electronic document filing system. A Tulsa World investigation found the three-member commission met in late June to hear a presentation from its preferred vendor for the project but did not post the meeting publicly, as required by the Open Meeting Act.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
SWOSU study shows financial impact of Oklahoma National Guard on state economy
For every 100 jobs the Oklahoma Army National Guard creates, 127 jobs are created statewide, according to a study conducted by Southwestern Oklahoma State University. That statistic and several others on the National Guard’s value to the state were presented Wednesday as part of a $14,000 economic impact study unveiled during a news conference at the Guard’s Joint Force Headquarters in Oklahoma City. Col. Curtis Arnold, the installation management director for the Guard, said the study presents figures he hopes to share with the state’s communities.
Officials say transparency lacking in Wal-Mart zoning
Norman city staff recently admitted to withholding information from the public regarding a controversial zoning change in southeast Norman. If approved by the city council, the proposal will allow a Wal-Mart supercenter at Cedar Lane and 12th Avenue Southeast. Despite concerns expressed by city council and residents, city staff probably did not violate Oklahoma’s open records laws, according to experts. Controversy arose concerning the lack of disclosure after Planning Director Susan Connors told the city council that staff knew the large retail store detailed in the site plan submitted to the planning commission was a Wal-Mart supercenter but agreed to keep the information confidential.
Read more from the Norman Transcript.
Dam safety is a legitimate component of public safety
Through the heat of brutal summers and the paucity of rainfall, the focus on dams hasn’t been the dams themselves but on what’s behind them. Water levels dominate any attention paid to lakes and ponds. When levels fall, worry sets in about the ability to supply water to cities and farmers, and to offer recreational opportunities. For some state officials and professional engineers, though, water level isn’t the main focus. It’s the dams. This is something the rest of us take for granted, especially when rainfall is normal or lower.
Oklahoma Senate Leader Appoints Final Three To Repair Panel
The leader of the Oklahoma Senate has approved three members to a committee that will oversee a $120 million renovation of the state Capitol. Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman announced the appointment of Republican Sens. Dan Newberry of Tulsa and Corey Brooks of Washington, along with Democrat Susan Paddack of Ada. The three will serve on a nine-member, bipartisan committee created under a bill approved last session that authorizes a $120 million bond issue to pay for repairs to the nearly 100-year-old building.
Quote of the Day
“It’s really critical, and it’s hard to put a value on it. The doctors so often in abuse and neglect cases are able to look at the physical evidence, the injuries being presented, and be able from a medical perspective to determine whether the explanation going along with those injuries are even medically possible.”
-Gayland Gieger, an Oklahoma County assistant district attorney, speaking about a team of child abuse medical experts that is being disbanded due to lack of funding. It would cost $300,000 to pay for the amount of work the child protection team provides throughout Oklahoma, but the team receives just $23,000 from state appropriations (Source: http://bit.ly/1rhCwSW)
Number of the Day
7.5%
Percentage of wage and salary workers in Oklahoma that were members of a union in 2013.
Source: US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Migrant Children Are Fleeing a Region Rife with Sexual Violence
More than 1,000 refugee children are arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border each week, largely from the violent “Northern Triangle” of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The President has labeled it, quite correctly, a humanitarian crisis. His opponents on the right—and in recent days, some on the left—have asserted that it is the direct result of our failed immigration policies, and the impression given by the Obama administration that “amnesty” is available to anyone who successfully crosses the border. But the emphasis on “pull factors” and political consequences largely misses the point: These children are not so much coming to America as running from dangerous and deadly circumstances that should give any conscientious deportation advocate serious pause. One key factor driving this crisis is the well-documented and widespread sexual and gender-related violence in Latin America
Read more from the New Republic.
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