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.
In a case expected to set a precedent for future earthqfuake claims in Oklahoma, the state Supreme Court will consider whether two oil companies can be held liable in state court for injuries a Prague woman suffered during the 2011 earthquake. While state authorities are quietly scrutinizing wells in quake-prone parts of the state, most of the companies that operate the wells are staying silent. The Oklahoman editorial board criticized OK Policy for pointing out that tax breaks to the oil and gas industry are costing Oklahoma more than $500 million this year alone.
Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman said it is alarming that Texas pays teachers so much more than Oklahoma. On the OK Policy Blog, Steve Lewis discussed House Speaker Jeff Hickman’s comments that Oklahoma is “one lawsuit away” from a federal takeover of our prison system. The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Commissioner Terri White said she is hopeful the agency will be one of the few not receiving budget cuts this legislative session. Officials with the highway patrol say they can already see the rise in interest from trooper recruits because of a pay raise that went into effect at the start of 2015. Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman has given $217,655 in pay raises to Senate employees.
More than 100,000 Oklahomans have selected or were automatically re-enrolled in private health insurance plans they bought through healthcare.gov. The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will review the drug protocol used in Oklahoma executions to determine whether the procedure violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. A recent federal policy reversal, long-sought by states and health care advocates, could enable schools to take a lead role in managing chronic childhood diseases and result in the hiring of many more school nurses. The Oklahoma Department of Health says influenza has taken the lives of 16 people during the past week, bringing the total numbers Oklahomans who have died due to flu-related illness since the flu season began to 47. The Tulsa school board has called off its Monday vote on a new superintendent, citing a need for more time to deliberate between finalists Millard House II and Deborah Gist.
The Tulsa World discussed the comprehensive set of election reform ideas being put forward by Senator David Holt. OK Policy discussed many of the ideas in our report on repairing Oklahoma’s broken democracy. Tulsa World editor Julie Delcour looked at how the state budget breaks down. More information and charts about the state budget can be found in OK Policy’s 2015 budget highlights report. The Washington Post profiled how families in Oklahoma are reacting to the sudden arrival of same-sex marriage.
The Number of the Day is the percentage of Oklahomans vaccinated for for the seasonal flu between fall 2013 and spring 2014. In today’s Policy Note, Wonkblog discusses recent research showing that when public schools get more money, students do better.
In The News
Prague earthquake suit before state Supreme Court could set precedent
In a case expected to set a precedent for future earthquake claims in Oklahoma, the state Supreme Court will consider whether two oil companies can be held liable in state court for injuries a Prague woman suffered during the 2011 earthquake. An attorney for one of the companies has said the lawsuit, if successful, would cause energy companies to abandon wastewater disposal wells across the state.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
As Authorities Use Permit Process to Scrutinize Wells in Earthquake Country, Oil Industry Remains Silent
As earthquakes continue to rattle Oklahoma and scientists study links to oil and gas production, many Oklahomans want to know what, if anything, is being done to address the shaking. An investigation by StateImpact shows that while authorities are quietly scrutinizing wells in quake-prone parts of the state, most of the companies that operate the wells are staying silent.
It’s folly to ignore tax impact on drilling in Oklahoma
The left-leaning Oklahoma Policy Institute would have us believe all that’s needed to provide huge increases in school funding is a tax increase on energy producers. But the assumptions built into the institute’s estimates are untethered from economic reality.
See also: One-year price tag for oil and gas tax breaks to exceed $500 million from the OK Policy Blog.
Oklahoma Senate President says teacher salary differential is alarming
Texas pays teachers so much more than Oklahoma that it is alarming, Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman said Tuesday. “We’ve got to do a better job with the pay differential between Oklahoma and Texas and some of the surrounding states,” he told The Oklahoman’s editorial board. “We’ve got to do a better job of putting a good package together that we can attract and get the good teachers in the classroom.” Although the state is looking at a tough budget year, demands are growing for a teacher pay hike.
Tulsa school board delays vote on new superintendent until at least Feb. 2
The Tulsa school board has called off its Monday vote on a new superintendent, citing a need for more time to deliberate between finalists Millard House II and Deborah Gist. The board had originally planned to complete its final, closed-door discussion and then vote at a special meeting on Monday evening, but members now want to wait until Feb. 2 at the earliest.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma ‘one lawsuit away’ from a federal takeover
House Speaker Jeff Hickman spoke to the Tulsa Republican Club at noon last Friday and told them Oklahoma is “one lawsuit away” from a federal takeover of its prison system. Hickman reported that Oklahoma prisons are at 116 percent of capacity but are staffed at 60 percent “of where they should be.”
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Mental Health Agency Hopes For No Funding Cuts
The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) Commissioner Terri White said she is hopeful the agency will be one of the few not receiving budget cuts this legislative session at a board meeting on Friday. White hopes the support from Governor Mary Fallin will ensure a stable budget for the agency in the nest fiscal year.
States Will Get More Money for School-Based Health Services
A recent federal policy reversal, long-sought by states and health care advocates, could enable schools to take a lead role in managing chronic childhood diseases and result in the hiring of many more school nurses. The change, announced quietly and unexpectedly last month by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), will allow public schools to receive Medicaid money for health services they provide to eligible students for the first time since 1997.
16 new flu deaths reported by Oklahoma health officials
The Oklahoma Department of Health says influenza has taken the lives of 16 people during the past week. Health officials reported Thursday that 47 Oklahomans have died due to flu-related illness since the flu season began Sept. 28. Almost 1,200 others have been hospitalized, including 100 during the past week.
Oklahoma trooper pay hike boosts recruitment
More money, more troopers. At least that’s the thought behind the recent pay raise for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. The start of the 63rd patrol academy might be less than a week away, but the recruitment for class 64 already has begun and officials with the highway patrol say they can already see the rise in interest in part because of a pay raise that went into effect at the start of 2015.
Oklahoma Senate employees get more than $217,000 in raises
Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman has given $217,655 in pay raises to Senate employees. A total of 90 employees, including executive assistants to Oklahoma senators, will get performance-based increases this month averaging 4 percent. The biggest raise was 7 percent; the lowest was 1 percent. The money for the raises comes from cost savings. The Senate had 139 employees in 2008 and has 108 now.
More Oklahomans enroll in Affordable Care Act plans
More than 100,000 Oklahomans have selected or were automatically re-enrolled in private health insurance plans they bought through the federal marketplace. The federal health insurance marketplace, created through the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, allows residents to choose from several private health insurance plans with varying prices and coverage.
US Supreme Court will review lethal injection drug protocol used in executions
The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will review the drug protocol increasingly used in executions across the country to determine whether the procedure violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. It is the court’s first examination of lethal injection since 2008 and follows a decision last week by a majority of the court — over the objection of its four liberal members — to allow the execution of Charles Frederick Warner in Oklahoma.
Read more from the Washington Post.
Comprehensive set of state election law changes deserves legislative consideration
An Oklahoma City Republican legislator has proposed a comprehensive set of election reform ideas that deserve close attention. Some of Holt’s ideas have great promise. We especially like the idea of opening up the primary election process to independent voters, an increasingly large segment of the voting public.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: Repairing Oklahoma’s Broken Democracy from OK Policy.
Slicing the state budget pie
Adopted not long after statehood, Oklahoma’s first state budget funded a government so small that had he been around, anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist could have strangled it in a washtub. It’s not 1907 anymore. Oklahoma’s spending has become vastly more complicated. The state population has more than doubled, and government does much more than it did back then, including maintaining a massive state infrastructure, which barely existed 108 years ago.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Deeply conservative Oklahoma adjusts to sudden arrival of same-sex marriage
The “polite gays,” was how Tracy and Kathryn described themselves. Not political or loud, not obvious or overt, but understated, in keeping with their Oklahoma surroundings. Never asking anyone to think too hard or talk too much about the fact that they were gay at all. Except now they were about to ask everyone they knew to think about it, because they’d decided to have a wedding.
Read more from the Washington Post.
Quote of the Day
“If you think about that money over a year, that’s a car payment. That’s whether a teacher has to work a second job. That’s like getting a 10 percent raise.”
-Linda Hampton, president of the Oklahoma Education Association, speaking about the average $4,446 less that teachers are paid in Oklahoma compared to Texas (Source: http://bit.ly/1zhtm1h)
Number of the Day
46.70%
Percentage of Oklahomans vaccinated for for the seasonal flu between fall 2013 and spring 2014
Source: Trust for America’s Health.
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
When public schools get more money, students do better
Beginning 40 years ago, a series of court rulings forced states to reallocate money for education, giving more to schools in poor neighborhoods with less in the way of local resources. Critics such as Eric Hanushek, an economist at the Hoover Institution, argued these decisions were simply “throwing money at schools.” His research found that there was little correlation between how much schools spent and how well their students performed on tests. More recent research, however, has found that when schools have more money, they are able to give their students a better education.
Read more from the Washington Post.
You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
