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.
The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office has made more than $700,000 in possibly illegal payments from the jail tax fund during the past four years to outside law firms to defend an avalanche of civil rights lawsuits against the sheriff and his employees. Gov. Mary Fallin signed into law Tuesday a statewide ban of texting while driving. The House Appropriations chairman said Oklahoma lawmakers plan to use ‘rainy day’ funds, cash reserves, the state’s unclaimed property program and county apportionment funds to bridge half of a $611.3 million budget hole, with cuts to state services covering the rest.
Leaders from over ninety businesses, organizations, religious institutions, and philanthropic foundations from across Oklahoma released a letter urging Governor Fallin and legislative leaders to halt the income tax cut scheduled to take effect next January. You can see the letter and list of signers here and go here to contact your legislators about halting the tax cut.
The Journal Record (subscription only) examined how state cuts to the Oklahoma Arts Council budget has a ripple effect on groups throughout the state. Oklahoma judges are warning that proposed budget cuts threaten the existence of a popular website of court information viewed by the public more than 500,000 times a day.
Devon Energy Corp. posted a first quarter loss of $3.6 billion, because the oil in the ground Devon has yet to produce is worth a little more than half of what it was one year ago. Revenue to the state treasury was up just 0.5 percent over the previous April as gross production taxes plunged by more than half. Oklahoma City’s budget proposal for next year seeks to balance the likelihood of a slowing economy against population increases and residents’ rising expectations of government.
The Tulsa school board voted unanimously to move the district’s six year-round schools back to the traditional calendar used by the rest of the district. The Oklahoma governor’s office and the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma soon will be in compact negotiations concerning the state’s hunting and fishing regulations. The Cherokee Nation has previously argued that its citizens do not need state hunting or fishing licenses on lands that historically belonged to the Cherokees. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services announced that more than $1.6 million in Affordable Care Act funding will go to three new health center sites in Oklahoma.
The Number of the Day is the percentage of Oklahoma families earning below 200% of the federal poverty level. In today’s Policy Note, New York Times columnist Thomas Edsall discusses similarities between the social problems in Baltimore, Maryland and in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
In The News
Investigation: Sheriff paid outside attorneys $700k from jail fund to defend civil rights suits
The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office has paid more than $700,000 from the jail tax fund during the past four years to outside law firms to defend an avalanche of civil rights lawsuits against the sheriff and his employees, an investigation by The Frontier has found. The expenditures may not even be allowed under state law, which says sheriffs must receive approval from the Attorney General’s Office to hire attorneys.
Gov. Mary Fallin signs bill outlawing texting while driving
Gov. Mary Fallin signed into law Tuesday a statewide ban against texting while driving. Oklahoma became the 46th state to prohibit a practice that law enforcement officials say is distracting and dangerous. The law, which goes into effect Nov. 1, carries a $100 fine. House Bill 1965 makes texting while driving a primary offense, meaning an officer can pull over a texting motorist.
Unclaimed property program could be part of budget deal
Oklahoma lawmakers plan to use ‘rainy day’ funds, cash reserves, the state’s unclaimed property program and county apportionment funds to help bridge a $611.3 million gap, the House Appropriations Committee chairman said Tuesday. Rep. Earl Sears, R-Bartlesville, said the four funds would cover “well more than half” of the budget gap. Sears said cuts to state agency budgets would cover the remainder.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
Dozens of businesses, non-profits, churches and other organizations call for halting tax cut
Leaders from over ninety businesses, organizations, religious institutions, and philanthropic foundations from across Oklahoma today released a letter urging Governor Mary Fallin and legislative leaders to halt the income tax cut scheduled to take effect next January. The scheduled cut the top income tax rate is adding tens of millions of dollars to the state’s $611 million budget shortfall.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
See the letter and list of signers at Together Oklahoma.
Low oil, natural gas prices continue to be drag on Oklahoma’s revenue
The state’s April gross receipts released Tuesday did little to brighten the mood of legislators struggling to fashion a budget for the next fiscal year. Revenue to the state treasury was up just 0.5 percent over the previous April as gross production taxes plunged by more than half. Gross production taxes on oil and gas are a relatively small and volatile source of state revenue compared to income and sales taxes, but they are viewed as an important leading indicator because so much of the state’s economy depends directly or indirectly on energy.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Cuts to Arts Council hurt programs across state
Any cut to the Oklahoma Arts Council budget has a ripple effect on the groups it supports throughout the state, members of the arts community said Tuesday as they visited the Capitol for Oklahoma Arts Day. The OAC is spending almost a third less on community arts programs since fiscal year 2010 but supported programs in roughly the same number of communities, according to the OAC’s budget request submitted this year.
Read more from the Journal Record.
Oklahoma judges say budget cuts threaten court information website
Oklahoma judges are warning that proposed budget cuts threaten the existence of a popular website of court information viewed by the public more than 500,000 times a day. Judges say oscn.net could shut down at times during the next fiscal year and for good the year after that. They say the impact would be major.
Devon Energy posts $3.6 billion loss on lower oil prices
Devon Energy Corp. on Tuesday posted a first quarter loss of $3.6 billion, led by a non-cash accounting charge from lower oil prices even as the company generated record oil production. The Oklahoma City-based oil and natural gas producer recorded a $5.46 billion asset impairment charge because the oil in the ground Devon has yet to produce is worth a little more than half of what it was one year ago.
Oklahoma City plans for slow growth in 2015-16
City manager Jim Couch says his 2015-16 budget proposal balances the likelihood of slower growth against population increases and residents’ rising expectations of government. Couch is proposing a record $1.248 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The city’s workforce would grow by 71 positions to 4,743, a 1.5 percent increase, Doug Dowler, the city’s budget director, told the city council Tuesday.
Tulsa’s year-round schools to join traditional academic calendar
The Tulsa school board voted unanimously Monday to move the district’s six year-round schools to the traditional calendar used by the rest of the district for the 2015-16 academic year. The change in school calendars will affect the nearly 3,200 students at Chouteau, Eugene Field, Gilcrease, Kendall-Whittier, Mark Twain and Marshall elementary schools beginning with the 2015-16 academic year.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Cherokee Nation seeking hunting and fishing rights from Gov. Mary Fallin
The Oklahoma governor’s office and the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma soon will be in compact negotiations concerning the state’s hunting and fishing regulations, a spokesman for Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said Tuesday. McNutt declined to elaborate, but in 2009 the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma informed its citizens that they did not need state hunting or fishing licenses when hunting or fishing on lands that historically belonged to the Cherokees.
Three Oklahoma health facilities receive $1.6 million in funding from Affordable Care Act
Officials say over $1 million in funding will be used to help Oklahomans in need. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services announced that $1,619,650 in Affordable Care Act funding will be used at three new health center sites in Oklahoma. The funds will be used at the Kiamichi Family Medical Center in Battiest, the Northeastern Oklahoma Community Health Centers, Inc. in Hulbert and Pushmataha Family Medical Center in Clayton.
Quote of the Day
“I don’t like paying taxes any more than you do, but I want to live in a state that takes care of its people. We continue to cut our taxes while year after year of decreases in funding mean that our schools, roads, public safety and agencies that contribute to the quality of life are suffering.”
Ken Fergeson, Chairman of the NBC Oklahoma bank, which was one of more than 90 businesses, non-profits, foundations, and other organizations that joined a letter calling for Oklahoma lawmakers to halt a planned tax cut that’s happening while the state faces a $611 million budget hole (Source)
Number of the Day
40%
Percentage of Oklahoma families with income below 200% of the federal poverty level.
Source: The Working Poor Families Project
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Sex, drugs and poverty in red and blue America
In the fall of 1969, Merle Haggard topped the Billboard country charts for four weeks with “Okie from Muskogee,” the song that quickly became the anthem of red America, even before we called it that. “We don’t smoke marijuana in Muskogee, we don’t take our trips on LSD, we don’t burn our draft cards down on Main Street, we like livin’ right and bein’ free,” Haggard declared. “We don’t make a party out of lovin’, we like holdin’ hands and pitchin’ woo.” Times have changed.
Read more from the New York Times.
You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
