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The Weekly Wonk is a summary of Oklahoma Policy Institute’s events, publications, blog posts, and coverage. Numbers of the Day and Policy Notes are from our daily news briefing, In The Know. Click here to subscribe to In The Know.
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On the OK Policy Blog, we explain that the state budget deficit is a structural problem, and not just due to oil prices. A guest post by the Oklahoma Primary Care Association’s Steven Goldman explains how enrollment data shows that Oklahomans are actively engaging with the Affordable Care Act. In his Capitol Update, Steve Lewis argues that lawmakers’ habit of shuffling money around while slashing taxes is beginning to create serious problems for education, health, mental health, social services and public safety.
Nikki Hager, former OK Policy intern and Midwest regional director of the millennial advocacy group Common Sense Action, writes in the Journal Record that the Legislature’s habit of engineering short-term fixes to long-term problems is harming investment in the state. In his weekly Journal Record column, Executive Director David Blatt explains that halting the tax cut doesn’t need a supermajority. You can read about the topic in greater detail here. The Edmond Sun quoted Blatt in a discussion of a bill to reform civil asset forfeiture in Oklahoma. Policy Director Gene Perry was quoted in a Huffington Post piece on education testing.
Weekly What’s That:
Earned Income Tax Credit
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a tax credit that subsidizes work for low-income families. More than 26 million households will receive a total of $60 billion in reduced taxes and refunds in 2015, according to the Tax Policy Center, making the EITC the nation’s largest cash or near cash assistance program after the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). Read more.
Look up more key terms to understand Oklahoma politics and government here.
Quote of the Week:
“Instead of taking advantage of a healthy economy to address the structural issues in the budget, each year the Oklahoma Legislature continues to pursue short-term solutions to long-term problems. This generationally irresponsible strategy fails to prevent future imbalances while reducing investment in Oklahoma’s future.”
-Nikki Hager, the Midwest regional director of millennial advocacy group Common Sense Action and a previous OK Policy intern (Source)
See previous Quotes of the Day here.
Editorial of the Week:
Editorial Board, The Oklahoman
One idea that appears especially short-sighted would fund teacher pay raises by raiding teacher retirement funds. Under that proposal, lawmakers would grant teachers a $1,000 pay raise by diverting money away from teacher pensions. …Basically, lawmakers would rob Peter to pay Paul. Worse yet, Halligan’s plan would resume past practices that made Oklahoma’s teachers’ retirement system one of the worst-funded in the nation. For years, lawmakers diverted money from the system, leaving it ever-less financially stable.
Numbers of the Day:
- 12.57 inches – The amount of rain recorded in the last 7 days at the Minco, OK Mesonet station, the highest in the state.
- $3,671 – The 2014 state spending per child enrolled in pre-K in Oklahoma, down nearly 25 percent from 2010
- 30 – The number of mine-resistant vehicles owned by Oklahoma law enforcement through a program that allows the military to transfer surplus equipment to law enforcement agencies.
- 9,121 – The years of potential life lost before age 75 per 100,000 of the population in Oklahoma. The US median is 7,681.
- 10,105 students – The drop in enrollment at Oklahoma colleges and universities over the past year, a decrease of 5.5% between Spring 2014 and Spring 2015.
See previous Numbers of the Day and sources here.
We’re Reading:
- Automatically creating children’s savings accounts with a deposit seeded by states is helping to create a college-going culture in low-income communities. (Pew Charitable Trusts)
- For all the pushback against the Common Core educational standards, more than 40 states are still on board. (Governing)
- Four million people in 22 states are unable to get affordable health insurance because their state has refused to expand health coverage to low-income residents. (PRI)
- A new study shows that federal safety net programs do more to ease poverty than previously thought. (The Washington Post)
- Since 2008, Oklahoma has cut state funding for higher education by $2,251 per student, or 23.5 percent. (The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
