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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 would become the first state to execute condemned inmates using nitrogen gas under a proposal that will be presented next week to a legislative committee. The Tulsa World reported that room where Oklahoma has conducted executions since 1992 is so dimly lit that executioners are provided a flashlight to see, and if something goes wrong, the executioners stick colored pencils through holes in the drug room wall to communicate with the doctor. Travelers holding an Oklahoma driver’s license may need a second form of identification to board a commercial airliner by 2016, because the state is refusing to comply with an act of Congress to make these licenses more secure.
On the latest OK PolicyCast, we discuss a new event series aimed at growing citizen involvement across Oklahoma. Though the minimum wage remains at $7.25 per hour for most Oklahomans, several tribal nations in the state are taking the lead to boost their minimum wage. A national report has given Oklahoma’s nursing homes a failing grade, ranking them third worst in the nation. You can read the full report here. A state constitutional amendment has protected tobacco settlement funds in Oklahoma, while other states signed away the funds to private investors for up front cash.
The president of the Oklahoma NAACP wants the U.S. attorney general to open a hate crimes and civil rights investigation into alleged sexual assaults on black women by an Oklahoma City police officer. Buzzfeed reported on how investigators finally caught the police officer, who is alleged to have targeted women who were unlikely to report the crime. Time Magazine shared an essay by an advocate working for marriage equality for same-sex couples in Oklahoma. New Journal Record columnist Arnold Hamilton wrote that Oklahoma’s Republican leaders need to better crack down on hate speech coming from elected officials in their party.
The parents of a woman killed in 2011 are proposing a new law to protect Oklahoma workers from termination or demotion if they attend court hearings in support of their loved ones. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services is giving $3.5 million in Affordable Care Act funding to 16 Oklahoma health centers to expand primary care services. An NSU undergraduate and former foster student is advocating for a new foster recruitment model that ensures kids can stay in the same school. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission held a meeting to discuss how they will implement a new utility tariff for users of rooftop solar panels or small wind turbines. The OK Policy Blog previously discussed what the new small solar and wind energy tariff could mean.
Representative Steve Vaughan, R-Ponca City, said Oklahoma does not have enough inspectors to ensure oil and gas wastewater disposal wells are not contaminating drinking water supplies. The Number of the Day is Canadian County’s ranking out of 3,135 U.S. counties in a New York Times analysis of the least and most difficult places to live in the country, the best ranking of any Oklahoma county. In today’s Policy Note, CityLab discusses a new push to improve road safety by turning four lanes into three.
In The News
State lawmakers to consider execution by gas
Oklahoma would become the first state to execute condemned inmates using nitrogen gas under a proposal that will be presented next week to a legislative committee. Rep. Mike Christian, a former highway patrolman and a staunch supporter of the death penalty, said he will unveil details of the plan Tuesday during an interim study of the House Judiciary Committee. Christian, R-Oklahoma City, said he intends to draft a bill for next year’s Legislature, which begins in February. “We’ve had so many problems with lethal injection,” Christian said. “I think this is just a more humane method, and I think it will be well received.”
Inside Oklahoma’s execution chamber: What happens in the small, dark room
The room where Oklahoma’s three executioners have carried out their lethal duties since 1992 is the size of a walk-in closet and so dimly lit they are provided a flashlight to see, according to court records. Cleaning supplies have been stored in the “drug room,” where executioners administer the lethal drugs. A small window in the door provides only a partial view of the inmate being executed. If something goes wrong, the executioners stick colored pencils through holes in the drug room wall to communicate with the doctor and others in the death chamber.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
REAL ID law may complicate travel for Oklahoma driver’s license holders
Travelers holding an Oklahoma driver’s license may need a second form of identification, like a passport, to clear security and board a commercial airliner as early as Jan. 1, 2016. Also, a little over three months from now — in 2015 — the Oklahoma driver’s license may no longer suffice at most federal buildings where ID is required. This is all because the state is refusing to comply with an act of Congress to make these licenses more secure.
OK PolicyCast: Episode 7
In this week’s OK PolicyCast, we talk about a new event series aimed at growing citizen involvement across Oklahoma. We also discuss controversy over militarized police in Oklahoma, and a private firm that has been training police officers to seize cash from drivers at highway stops, even though they have not been charged with a crime. We also talk about a push to increase the tipped minimum wage for Oklahoma service workers, a new study on wage theft, and how rising court fees are feeding Oklahoma’s incarceration crisis, as well as what the City of Tulsa is doing to prepare for climate change and attract millenials.
Listen to the podcast from OK Policy.
Tribes Pushing Minimum Wage Higher
Though the minimum wage remains at $7.25 per hour for most Oklahomans, several tribal nations pay more or have boosted their entry-level wage above the federal level, a move that could cause the Oklahoma Legislature to take another look at the issue. The wage boosts have occurred over the past few years, even as state lawmakers were working on legislation to prevent minimum wage increases.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
Report Ranks Oklahoma Among Worst In Nation For Nursing Home Care
A national report has given Oklahoma’s nursing homes a failing grade, ranking them among the worst in the nation. Now, advocates are calling for change. Last year’s report from citizen’s advocacy group ‘Families for Better Care’ ranked Oklahoma 48th in nursing home care. This year, the ranking dropped to 49th, which created another piece of motivation for advocates. The photos shown are just some of the images that have blackened the landscape of nursing home care in Oklahoma.
State Tobacco Settlement Funds Not Spent ‘Up Front’
Though cigarette manufacturers continue to pay state governments billions of dollars following a landmark 1998 lawsuit, much of that money isn’t actually going to government budgets, the investigative website ProPublica reported. According to ProPublica, “a large chunk” of tobacco settlement funds were being paid to investors after many state governments cut deals to get cash up front by trading away decades worth of future tobacco income.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
Oklahoma NAACP President Requests US Investigation
The president of the Oklahoma NAACP wants the U.S. attorney general to open a hate crimes and civil rights investigation into alleged sexual assaults on black women by an Oklahoma City police officer. Daniel Holtzclaw was arrested August 21st and accused of groping and raping several black women during a series of attacks from February through June while on duty patrolling the city’s northeast side. Police have said there are at least eight alleged victims.
Read more from Public Radio Tulsa.
See also: How Police Caught The Cop Who Allegedly Sexually Abused 8 Black Women from Buzzfeed.
45 Years After Stonewall, Oklahoma Still Awaiting Marriage Equality
I just returned home to Oklahoma from Manhattan, where I spent a few days in strategy sessions with Freedom to Marry. Our visit to the Stonewall Inn, the gay bar that was a target of viciously anti-gay police raids in the 1960s, was a highlight I will not soon forget. As we played bingo and decompressed from a long day, I was struck by how small the space was and I could only imagine the panic and terror that set in for the bar’s patrons as they endured police raids. I left Stonewall inspired by its place in history, its legacy of hope and real purpose to right the wrong of violent anti-gay discrimination.
Hamilton: Leaders must turn off the hate spigot
Regrettably, Oklahoma has a long, embarrassing history of elected leaders spewing hate, bigotry and crackpot theories. Gov. “Alfalfa Bill” Murray was rabidly anti-Semitic and pro-eugenics. Former state Rep. John Monks used an ethnic slur to deride Chinese. State Rep. Sally Kern declared homosexuality to be a greater threat to America than terrorism. Enter state Rep. John Bennett, the latest to secure a permanent spot in the Oklahoma Hall of Infamy.
Read more from The Journal Record.
Slain Woman’s Parents Propose New Law
The parents of a woman killed in 2011 are proposing a new law to protect Oklahoma workers from termination or demotion if they attend court hearings in support of their loved ones. Michael Taylor, father of victim Ashley Taylor, says his daughter’s namesake law would strengthen the rights victims have. He says while Oklahoma currently assures victims’ families they have right to attend court and calls on employers to minimize an employee’s loss of pay and other benefits resulting from court appearances, it doesn’t specify what protections that worker has.
Read more from Public Radio Tulsa.
State health centers to get $3.5 million from ACA
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services is giving $3.5 million in Affordable Care Act funding to 16 Oklahoma health centers to expand primary care services. Great Salt Plains Health Center, a federally funded community health center with clinics in Cherokee, Medford and Enid, gets a $197,674 slice of the pie. Tim Starkey, executive director of the Cherokee-based organization, said part of the money will be used to expand dental services in Cherokee and later, part will be used to expand medical services.
NSU student says foster kids need to stay in the same school
It’s hard to believe Christine Hamby struggled making connections with people during her child and teen years. The 23-year-old student at Northeastern State University held a room of more than 125 child advocates, educators and volunteers in rapt attention last week as she described her life in foster care. “I was asked to talk about the importance of staying in one school placement,” she said. “I didn’t have that experience staying at one school, but I can tell you the negative aspects of going to different schools.”
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Fairness needed for new Oklahoma utility rates for rooftop solar, small wind users, panel hears
Regulators should take care of the fledgling solar industry in Oklahoma so they don’t repeat the mistakes of other states when implementing new utility tariffs for users of rooftop solar panels or small wind turbines. Heated policy battles in Arizona and other states over additional charges for distributed generation customers have caused utilities and regulators to tread cautiously as they implement similar policies, attendees heard at a meeting organized by Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Dana Murphy.
See also: Shedding some sunlight on Oklahoma’s new solar and wind energy law from the OK Policy Blog.
Lawmakers Say State Needs More Disposal Well Field Inspectors
If a resident has a well water problem and they think it’s related to oil and gas pollution, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) sends an inspector to check it out. But one lawmaker says there aren’t enough inspectors to keep up with the level of activity. Jack Klinger said the well water on his property in Tonkawa is pretty much worthless. “It’s just a mess and you don’t know what to do, you know?”
Quote of the Day
“We’re not just talking about someone working part time. In my district you have teachers moonlighting at restaurants just to make ends meet. You have seniors who are going back to work to cover gaps in their retirement. It’s a big problem.”
-Rep. Mike Shelton, D-Oklahoma City, who is developing legislation to increase the tipped minimum wage in Oklahoma, currently $2.13/hour (Source: http://buff.ly/1tW0S5Y)
Number of the Day
354
Canadian County’s ranking out of 3,135 U.S. counties in a New York Times analysis of the least and most difficult places to live in the country, the best ranking of any Oklahoma county.
Source: The New York Times via NewsOK.
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
So What Exactly Is a ‘Road Diet’?
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced an 18-month campaign to improve road safety across the country. One of the things DOT plans to do is create a guide to “road diets” that it will distribute to communities and local governments. DOT says that road diets can reduce traffic crashes by an average of 29 percent, and that in some smaller towns the design approach can cut crashes nearly in half. But what exactly is a road diet?
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