The Weekly Wonk September 7, 2014

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. Because The Weekly Wonk was on break for the holiday weekend, this edition contains links from the past two weeks.

On the OK Policy Blog, we made the case for ending runoff elections. Executive Director David Blatt reiterated the point in his Journal Record column this week. A post in our Neglected Oklahoma series examined the impact of the school-to-prison pipeline, and a blog post by intern Tyler Parette called for long-term solutions for homelessness in Oklahoma. 

A guest blog post argued that with Oklahoma slashing funding for regulation of horse races, it may not be long before we see a doping or race-fixing scandal. Policy Director Gene Perry and former inner-city teacher John Thompson reviewed Amanda Ripley’s book, “The Smartest Kids in the World: and How They Got That Way.”

Last week’s OK PolicyCast featured discussion of “The Smartest Kids in the World,” as well as the loss of Oklahoma’s No Child Left Behind Waiver and new details on the botched execution. This week, the OK PolicyCast examines a pair of lawsuits that could dramatically change tax politics in Oklahoma, one state lawmaker’s comments that have upset Oklahoma Muslims, and more. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or RSS.

In his Journal Record column last week, Blatt discussed misperceptions about welfare in Oklahoma. Blatt spoke Thursday night at a panel on segregation in Tulsa’s public schools, where he noted that economic segregation has supplanted its racial predecessor. In our editorial of the week, The Oklahoman’s Editorial Board calls for greater scrutiny in issuing tax credits. We’ve written about tax credit reform before. 

Quote of the week:

“We made the point that if we don’t do anything about this problem in some manner, shape or form there will be cities that will not be able to afford a police department or a fire department.”

– Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett, who is launching a campaign with Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett to get the state legislature to allow cities to diversify their source of revenue. Oklahoma municipalities are currently funded almost entirely by sales tax (Source: http://bit.ly/1uCGJlS).

See previous Quotes of the Day here.

Numbers of the day:

• $5,168 – Oklahomans’ per capita spending on energy in 2012, 12th highest in the nation.
• 11.5% – Percentage of people with diabetes in Oklahoma. The national average is 9.7%.
• $6.3 million – Direct spending by out-of-state and international travelers in Oklahoma in 2010.
• 2049 – Year at which the Garber-Wellington aquifer, which supplies water to Oklahoma City, Moore, Norman, Sherman, and other towns, will be 50 percent depleted if usage continues at current rates.
• 1st – Oklahoma’s ranking nationwide for the rate of African-Americans killed by law enforcement, 1999-2011.
• $13.1 million – Earthquake insurance premiums paid by Oklahomans in 2013, almost triple the $4.8 million paid by Oklahomans in 2009.
• -4.1% – Drop in Oklahoma’s voter registration rate, from 81.1% 2008 to 77.0% 2012.
• 7.6% – How much real tax revenue in Oklahoma remains below the pre-recession peak.

See previous Numbers of the Day here.

What we’re reading:

• The New York Times examines new federal rules tightening the prescribing of hydrocodone in an effort to combat prescription drug abuse.
• The Atlantic discusses the ACLU’s lawsuit over witnessing executions in Oklahoma and the broader reasoning behind keeping executions open to the public.
• Entrepreneur Nick Hanauer writes that America cannot sustain its current levels of inequality without a serious backlash or a police state.
• The Brennan Center suggests broad reforms to how federal grants are administered to state and local law enforcement.
• Vox explains why labor unions play a critical role in making capitalism work.
• Even though the unemployment rate is declining, food stamp statistics suggest many Americans still are struggling to get by with part-time or low-paying jobs, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.
• Vox discusses how Arkansas is becoming poster child for the benefits of Obamacare.
• The Washington Post explains how America’s aging population is encountering infrastructure designed for for the young.