Rotunda of the state Capitol Credit: Shannon Cornman Despite rising income inequality in the U.S. — a growing gap spotlighted by last year’s presidential campaign and the Occupy Wall Street movement — some Oklahoma leaders have wanted to make the state’s already-regressive tax code even more so. Although the top 5 percent of the state’s […]
Mary Fallin
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Prater files charges against the state’s Pardon and Parole Board
Prater announced the filings late today.?? “Every effort was made by me to resolve this matter in a fair and equitable manner before the filing of the criminal information,” he said in a written statement.?? He also indicated the board members were offered an opportunity to step down two at a time to allow the […]
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Right-thinking governors
Democrats have been arguing for quite a while that Medicaid expansion is the only fiscally responsible path forward. Now their argument has been endorsed by Kasich, who has impeccable conservative credentials, since he is a former chairman of the House Budget Committee and a former Fox News analyst. Kasich built his political identity arguing for […]
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New thinking needed
When will the state of Oklahoma decide to do itself a service and stop electing the kinds of folks who cause young people to flee the state as soon as they are able to do so? Each May, you hear this great whooshing sound of all the bright graduates racing out of the state to […]
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Smoke up
Credit: Brad Gregg Current statute pre-empts municipalities from enacting smoking ordinances stricter than what state law has enacted. The measure to repeal that preemption was strongly backed by Gov. Mary Fallin, who had made it a key part of her legislative agenda. Sen. Rob Johnson, R-Kingfisher, headed much of the committee debate against the measure. […]
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Improving mental health in Oklahoma
A report on mental health care by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, gave the state a grade of B, citing innovations such as mental health and drug courts, collaboration with the state Departments of Corrections and Health and peer recovery support specialist certification. Oklahoma is making progress. Much more needs to be […]
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Coverage controversy
Protesters push for Medicaid expansion at a Feb. 5 rally at the state Capitol. Credit: Mark Hancock Oklahoma currently ranks near the bottom among states in terms of wellness. Both opponents and advocates of an expansion of the state’s Medicaid program say action is required to improve the state’s health. Fallin and other state leaders […]
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Up in smoke
On a 6-2 vote, the Senate General Government Committee rejected Senate Bill 36, which sought to repeal the state pre-emption law that supersedes local governments. SB 36 was referred to that panel after Sen. Brian Crain, R-Tulsa, chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, had declined to grant a hearing on the legislation. […]
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A tax cut to die for
Fallin claims income tax cuts will make us more “competitive,” but our economy (fueled by federal spending and high oil and agriculture prices) grew at the third-highest rate nationally in the past decade. Betting our future on continued high oil prices is the definition of insanity. Texas is ranked No. 1 nationally as a business-friendly […]
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Tobacco road
Credit: Mark Hancock Currently, Oklahoma and Tennessee are the only states that fully bar local governments from ordinances that restrict tobacco. And therein lies the rub. State Health Commissioner Terry Cline is on the side of local control. “We expect big opposition from this multibillion[-dollar] industry,” he said. “There are plenty of paid tobacco lobbyists […]