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What’s up this week at Oklahoma Policy Institute? The Weekly Wonk shares our most recent publications and other resources to help you stay informed about Oklahoma. Numbers of the Day and Policy Notes are from our daily news briefing, In The Know. Click here to subscribe to In The Know.
This Week from OK Policy
OK Policy Names Shiloh Kantz as Executive Director: OK Policy’s Board of Directors has named Shiloh Kantz — the organization’s longest tenured staff member — as its executive director to lead the organization. Kantz has served the organization since 2010 after being the first employee hired by longtime Executive Director David Blatt. She began her role at OK Policy as office manager and later was promoted to Director of Operations and Development in 2015. In 2018, she was named Deputy Director and has served as Interim Executive Director since June. [OK Policy]
Mansion fundraising controversy, and looking back at how past governors used the facility (Capitol Update): Something of a controversy has developed over Gov. Kevin Stitt’s plan to raise about $6.5 million in private funding and build a new governor’s mansion. According to reports, “Friends of the Mansion” has been accepting donations of up to $250,000 from foundations and up to $150,000 from individuals. The controversy has arisen partly because the fundraising was happening outside of public view. [Steve Lewis / Capitol Update]
Policy Matters: Election advertising and ‘The Shawshank Redemption’: Much of the inflammatory rhetoric in a modern election cycle is funded by political action committees and so-called “dark money” groups – politically active nonprofits and corporate entities that are not required to publicly disclose their donors. [Shiloh Kantz / Journal Record]
Governor’s Debate: Post-Debate Panel Discussion (video): Lawmakers, community leaders, and the media participated in a post-debate panel discussion immediately after Wednesday night’s gubernatorial debate between Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt and Democratic State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister [Together Oklahoma / YouTube]
Weekly What’s That
State Question
State Questions are measures to change Oklahoma laws or the state constitution that appear on the ballot for all voters. They can be added to the ballot by the Legislature or by an initiative petition from citizens.
The number of signatures required for a petition to qualify for the balloy is tied to the total number of votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. Constitutional amendments require signatures equaling at least 15 percent of votes cast, statute changes require 8 percent of this vote, and veto referendums require 5 percent. Most State Questions are voted on during November general elections, but initiative petitions can be placed on the ballot at the time of primary elections or a special election.
Look up more key terms to understand Oklahoma politics and government here.
Quote of the Week
“Simply, for the court to overturn ICWA in this case would be a devastating blow not just to the welfare of our children but to Congressional authority, legal precedent, and to the basic foundations of federal Indian law.”
-Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., commenting on the impact an unfavorable ruling in a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court would have on the welfare of children and the “basic foundations of federal Indian law.” [Tulsa World]
Editorial of the Week
Editorial: Everyone has a role in reducing homelessness
Tulsa has shown to be a compassionate and progressive city, often collaboratively finding solutions to tough problems. Never has that been more needed than in addressing homelessness. It takes an entire city, with investments of time, money and other resources from all sectors including the local government.
That’s one of the lessons Tulsa civic, business and government leaders brought back from Denver recently from the 13th Tulsa Regional Chamber’s Intercity Visit program. The city of Denver’s first allocation from general funds to address homelessness was in 2013 with $3 million for affordable housing, as reported by Kevin Canfield.
It has become part of the city’s annual commitment, with $190 million spent on homeless-related programs this year and expected to grow to $254 million next fiscal year. Denver has two dedicated quarter-cent sales taxes for this purpose. Tulsa isn’t as big as Denver, in population or number of people experiencing homelessness. But the number of homeless people in Tulsa has stepped up.
The amount of people living on Tulsa’s streets has increased 40% since last year and those staying in shelters has risen 2%, according to counts held earlier this year.
Getting at the root is a complicated mix of offering enough affordable housing, eviction prevention, mental health and substance abuse services, job placement programs and court diversion options.
Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum noted this complexity on the visit.
“I have heard so many people throughout the trip talking about homelessness in Tulsa and what can be done. And the concern for me is that I will hear one group of folks, maybe from the business community, talking about how to address the issues that impact them, and I will hear folks from municipal government talking about how to fix the issues that impact them, folks from the nonprofit community talking about how to fix the issues that impact them.
“The big takeaway for me … is there is not one thing that can be done to fix homelessness. It has to be a large, collaborative effort communitywide.”
Traditionally, serving people who are homeless has been left to the nonprofit and faith communities. Municipal governments often serve as pass-throughs to distribute federal or state grants to those groups.
That is no longer enough…
Numbers of the Day
- 47th – Oklahoma’s national rank for access to women’s health providers [America’s Health Rankings]
- 3,461 – Number of children removed from their guardians’ care by the state’s Child Welfare Services between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021. [Oklahoma Department of Human Services Annual Report]
- 34% – The share of Oklahoma children under age 18 who live in families with incomes less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level, which is about 320,000 Oklahoma children. In 2021, a 150% poverty threshold for a family of two adults and two children was $41,218. [KIDS COUNT]
- $10,000 – The average bail for a felony charge in Oklahoma County, while the average is half that ($5,000) in Tulsa County. Detainees in Tulsa County face misdemeanor bail amounts of $1,000 on average, while those in Oklahoma County usually receive bail set at $500 for misdemeanors. [FWD.us via The Oklahoman]
- 458.6 – Oklahoma’s rate of violent crime offenses per 100,000 residents in 2020. The national rate was 398.5 per 100,000 residents. [FBI, Crime Data Explorer]
What We’re Reading
- Millions of Americans are losing access to maternal care. Here’s what can be done: Access to maternity care is decreasing in the parts of the U.S. that need it the most, affecting nearly 7 million women of childbearing age and some 500,000 babies. A recent report from March of Dimes finds that 36% of counties nationwide — largely in the Midwest and South — constitute “maternity care deserts,” meaning they have no obstetric hospitals or birth centers and no obstetric providers. [NPR]
- States Should Use New Guidance to Stop Charging Parents for Foster Care, Prioritize Family Reunification: Recent guidance from the Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration for Children & Families allows states to end the harmful practice of charging parents for costs associated with their child being in foster care. Implementing this guidance will be crucial in helping create more equitable child support and child welfare programs that put the needs of children first. Most children placed in foster care are there due at least in part to their parents’ economic hardships, and charging for such care as most states do imposes extra hardship and delays family reunification. This approach also costs more to administer than it collects. States and localities should act expeditiously to change the policies needed to fully implement the new guidance and prioritize reunification, the central goal of the foster care system. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]
- Information Gaps and Misinformation in the 2022 Elections: False claims about the 2020 election have prompted anti-voter laws and mistrust in the process. Election officials, civic groups, and the media must act against the threat of election misinformation. [Brennan Center for Justice]
- A Benefits-Cost Analysis of Tulsa Pre-K, Based on Effects on High School Graduation and College Attendance: Research has estimated that the benefits of Tulsa’s universal pre-K program exceed the costs by 2.65 to 1. Researchers used high school graduation data and college enrollment data, extrapolated to adult earnings, to calculate the benefits. [Georgetown Center For Research on Children in the United States]
- States Use Fiscal Recovery Funds to Promote Income Security: States across the country are using flexible State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) to boost income security, particularly for those who face structural barriers to building wealth and income and have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Income security programs, such as one-time or monthly cash payments and savings accounts, help people with low incomes emerge from the worst of the pandemic. By strengthening and expanding these programs with FRF, states can continue to improve the current and long-term well-being of individuals and families. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]
