OKLAHOMA CITY – Interim study topics in the state House of Representatives this summer and fall will include health care, job development and other business issues, the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on student learning, potential measures to reduce reliance on public welfare programs, neighborhood blight, the impact of Oklahoma’s high incarceration rates on convicts and their families, and an intrastate college athletic conference.
House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, approved 113 of the 136 interim study requests submitted by members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
McCall approved 107 requests outright and combined 12 requests of similar topics into six studies. The 113 approved requests include six joint studies with the state Senate.
House committees will begin scheduling interim studies between Aug. 2 and Nov. 5.
To ensure committee staff has capacity to prepare for and staff interim studies, factors such as topic relevancy, whether the topic has been studied previously, and potential for associated legislation were considered when reviewing study requests, House spokesman John Estus said.
Interim studies will be livestreamed on the House website. Handouts, presentations and documents utilized at hearings will be available online, as well.
Interim studies enable legislative committees to devote more time to examination of particular issues than they typically can during annual, regular sessions of the Legislature, which last four months: from February through May. These in-depth studies are conducted during the interim period after the end of regular legislative sessions and prior to the start of the next regular session of the Legislature.
HEALTH CARE
State Rep. Marcus McEntire, R-Duncan, received permission to conduct a study of a statewide health information exchange that could provide on-demand patient records.
Such a system “would allow any doctor or medical facility in, say, Oklahoma City or Tulsa, to access, within seconds or minutes, the medical data of any patient from, say, Lawton who was having a heart attack or was injured in a traffic accident,” McEntire said.
A health information exchange also would improve the measurement of health outcomes, track the extent of vaccinations statewide, and data showing how much ‘bang’ we receive for our medical ‘bucks’ would be at our fingertips,” he said. “This would enable us to address health care issues with hard data, not just conjecture.”
McEntire’s study was assigned to the House’s Public Health Committee.
An interim study requested by Elgin Republican Rep. Toni Hasenback to compare and contrast managed care versus “the existing system” was assigned to the House Committee on Insurance.
EDUCATION
Rep. Daniel Pae, R-Lawton, wants to examine civics education in Oklahoma “at the secondary and collegiate/Career Tech levels.”
The objectives, he said, are to 1) learn how civics and government are being taught and how state government is addressed in Oklahoma history; 2) understand what federal resources could be utilized (i.e. Civics Secures Democracy Act); 3) evaluate policy proposals to improve civics education in Oklahoma; and 4) initiate discussion about how to strengthen comprehensive civics education “that builds the skills, knowledge, and disposition” students need “to be informed, active citizens.”
That study was assigned to the House Committee on Higher Education.
A joint House/Senate study will delve into how COVID-19 has affected learning outcomes and “what can be done to bring students back up to level,” said Rep. Rhonda Baker, R-Yukon, and Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond. The legislative study will look at K-12 and college freshmen, “where it is anticipated that remediation levels will be needed,” the legislators said.
In the fall of 2019 – six months prior to arrival of the coronavirus pandemic in Oklahoma – almost 27% of the 17,149 first-time degree seeking freshmen enrolled in Oklahoma colleges and universities were required to take remedial classes in one or more courses.
According to the State Regents for Higher Education, those included science (39 students, 0.2% of the total), reading development (699 students, 4.1% of the total), English (2,123 students, 12.4% of the total), and math (3,453 freshmen, 20.1% of the total incoming freshman class).
Another education issue Representative Baker requested is a study of computer science courses in Oklahoma schools. “This study will explain what computer science education looks like at the elementary, middle school and high school levels,” she said. That issue was assigned to the Common Education Committee.
Majority Floor Leader Jon Echols requested a study of how to make Oklahoma a Top 10 state for college/university attendance and graduation rates, in conjunction with Governor Stitt’s goal of making Oklahoma a Top 10 state.
SPORTS
Representative Hasenbeck will lead a study into keeping female athletes “in a competitive environment that is safe.” The study was assigned to the House Committee on States Rights.
Another interim study will examine the feasibility of establishing a new athletic conference comprised of all Division 2 universities in Oklahoma: Cameron in Lawton, Southwestern at Weatherford, Central Oklahoma at Edmond, Southeastern at Durant, Panhandle State at Goodwell, Northeastern at Tahlequah, East Central at Ada, Rogers State at Claremore, Oklahoma Christian in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Baptist at Shawnee, and Southern Nazarene in Bethany.
“There are 11 Division 2 universities in Oklahoma competing in three different athletic conferences: the Great American Conference, the Lone Star Conference, and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Conference,” said Rep. Mark Vancuren.
Oklahoma Division 2 universities “travel within Oklahoma for athletic competitions and travel to Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico and Texas for athletic competitions,” the Owasso Republican noted.
“In order to be the best stewards of Oklahoma taxpayer dollars, I believe that the possible formation of an ‘Oklahoma Athletic Conference’ for our Division 2 schools would be beneficial to the universities when discussing the costs of doing business, in development of natural in-state rivalries, and in seeking to meet the needs of Oklahoma’s own student athletes,” Vancuren said.
Topics to be covered in the study, he indicated, will include:
Finances: cost of development of the proposed conference, the cost of leaving current conference affiliations, and potential savings in travel and lodging associated with an “Oklahoma-only” athletic conference.
Timeline for implementation: naming the conference, selecting a commissioner for the group, and the “turnaround time” for implementation.
Would the conference be “Oklahoma-only” or would the conference consider inclusion of out-of-state teams?
A national tournament and automatic qualification for the NCAA national tournament.
Vancuren’s study was assigned to the House Committee on Higher Education.
WELFARE
A study requested by Reps. Mark Lawson and Andy Fuguate into the “financial cliff of human services subsidies” (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, childcare, housing vouchers, etc.) was assigned to the House Committee on Children, Youth, and Family Services.
One aspect that will be examined is how the state could create ‘off ramps’ from government dependence and ‘on ramps’ to self- sufficiency for families, said Fugate, D-Del City, and Lawson, R-Sapulpa.
The study also will focus on:
the effects of these welfare programs on Oklahoma families.
the role this “cliff” may play in generational poverty.
steps that can be taken to ameliorate the financial disincentive to families in need.
the economic impact to taxpayers to subsidize an Oklahoma family.
Lawson is chairman of the Human Services Subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations and Budget, and is a member of the Children, Youth, and Family Services Committee.
NEIGHBORHOOD BLIGHT
The House Committee on County and Municipal Government will conduct a study of measures to reduce neighborhood blight.
“This study will take a closer look at strategies to reduce blighted properties in neighborhoods across Oklahoma, particularly steps the state should take to enable community partners and developers to transform the face of communities,” said Rep. Monroe Nichols, D-Tulsa. The study will review enabling legislation in Alabama that led to revitalization of neighborhoods in Mobile, Nichols said.
In one effort to eliminate blight in Lawton, City Hall intends to demolish 600 to 700 dangerous and dilapidated dwellings by the end of Fiscal Year 2025, and $3.5 million in Capital Improvement Plan funding has been earmarked for the program.
The Lawton City Council and city staff addressed 160 of those decrepit buildings in Fiscal Year 2021, which concluded on June 30, and the council condemned 31 more “D&D” sites during a meeting July 20.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
A request from Rep. Trey Caldwell, R-Lawton, for a study of rural economic development tax incentive programs was assigned to the House Agriculture Committee.
“I want to examine the feasibility of implementing a pooled financing incentive program similar to a program in Georgia, he said.
The “Agribusiness and Rural Jobs Act” enacted in the Peach State in 2017 is intended to provide a mechanism whereby access to capital is available to small businesses in rural parts of Georgia; at least 10% of the portfolio must be in agribusinesses.
Funds for tax credits are set aside “to provide a monetary incentive for companies and producers in other states to relocate to Georgia,” Caldwell said.
The House of Representatives will discuss “the top five reasons why businesses come to Oklahoma and the top five reasons why businesses have chosen to leave Oklahoma.” That study was requested by Rep. Kevin McDugle, R-Broken Arrow, and was assigned to the Business and Commerce Committee.
Another issue that is slated for study is economic incentives versus economic penalties: What’s working and what isn’t? That study was requested by Rep. Forrest Bennett, D-Oklahoma City.
Other issues that will be the focus of House interim studies this year include: the fiscal impact of eliminating the state sales tax on groceries; state institutions of higher education and their engineering programs, aerospace engineering in particular; consider weaning the state off fines and fees that are financing the state courts system to a great extent, and instead funding the courts with increased legislative appropriations; the effects of incarceration on the families of convicts; the moral implications of the state budget as it affects education, criminal justice, financial sustainability, Human Services, and “customer service,” job growth, and more, since each of those areas impacts families and children;
Containment of prescription drug costs; theft of catalytic converters; Oklahoma’s absentee voting process and ballot security; alternatives to incarceration for non-violent offenders, and exploring the challenges and solutions to re-entry of ex-offenders into society; property rights as they pertain to the state’s Landlord Tenant Act; illegal foreign acquisition of Oklahoma land; a review of fence laws in Oklahoma; and out of state contractors: Where are they buying materials, where are their paychecks going, and what states get their tax dollars?
A full list of approved studies can be found at https://okhouse.gov/Committees/ShowInterimStudies.aspx.