Zac Woodcock salvages items from the rubble of a tornado-ravaged rental home, which they own, on Tuesday.

By Patrick B. McGuigan | CapitolBeatOK

OKLAHOMA CITY — Early Tuesday morning, rescuers in Moore, Okla., revised the death count from Monday’s massive storm downward, from 51 to 24.

That was the best news since the devastating F-4 (perhaps F-5) storm struck Monday afternoon. However, that lower number seems likely to rise as recovery operations continue throughout the coming days.

Rescuers throughout devastated residential areas anticipated finding and identifying people who died in the storm. At the same time, in-place storm shelters are more common than ever in Oklahoma City, meaning some who would have died in past decades survived this historic storm.

Oklahoma City’s southeast water treatment facility was crippled by the tornado just before it lifted back into the sky. In a news release sent to CapitolBeatOK, city water treatment officials said rain and lightning overnight slowed progress in restoring power at the Draper Water Treatment Plant.

As a result of the plant’s disabilities, water pressure is low throughout Oklahoma City, particularly in the downtown area, on and near the University of Oklahoma Health Science campus and at the state Capitol. Customers of the city water system were asked to avoid using sprinklers on Tuesday and delay use of washing machines

Tuesday morning, officials were optimistic the water supply would be restored by drive time Tuesday afternoon and evening.

The Oklahoma Blood Institute requested blood donations Tuesday morning, after officials said an increased supply was needed to fill gaps that emerged quickly after dozens of injured adults and children were taken to regional hospitals after the storm.

Donations system were quickly put in place by the Salvation Army  and the Red Cross. A wide range of charitable organizations – including the Southern Baptists’ Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief, 3800 N May, Oklahoma City, OK 73112 – was fully operational. Online gifts could go to www.bgco.org.

The Chabad Jewish Center had begun to provide direct shelter and aid to elderly and families among the thousands of people displaced by the storm.

Many charitable groups were asking for direct financial contributions designated to Oklahoma City, as the most efficient way to assist recovery efforts. Others were accepting in-kind gifts at drop-off points all over the metro area, including the News9 television station and the Santa Fe Family Life Center, each in north Oklahoma City.

Another site encouraging in-kind contributions was Windsor Hills Baptist Church in west Oklahoma City. Pastor Tom Vineyard was providing direct help to his colleague, the Rev. Sven Larson of Moore Baptist Temple. Larson said a girl who rides the Sunday church bus was missing. Otherwise, church members appear to have survived the devastation, although many lost their homes and everything they own.

Vineyard told CapitolBeatOK his church would collect “food, bottled water, flashlights, batteries, diapers, and baby wipes” for Pastor Larson’s efforts. Financial gifts, he said, could be designated for “Moore Tornado Victims.”

One of the destroyed homes in Moore belongs to Saad Mohammed, a prominent member of the Oklahoma Muslim community. Adam Soltani, Mohammed’s colleague with the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the group would coordinate with state and local disaster officials to support recovery.

The Tulsa Community Foundation (TCF) established a major relief program aimed at assisting both Moore and Shawnee (site of major storms on Sunday). Expressing thanks for a lead gift of $100,000 from the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF), Phil Laken of the community foundation said, “I only wish that we could do more – so much more.”

Officials said their objective would be to provide mid-to-long-term relief in the Moore and Shawnee areas. TCF was accepting contributions for the Moore & Shawnee Tornado Relief Fund at www.TulsaCF.org, or via U.S. mail at 7030 S. Yale, Suite 600, Tulsa, OK 74136.

While the aforementioned charities are among those widely known and respected in the region, state Attorney General Scott Pruitt warned donors and consumers to watch out for “charity fraud.” In a news release to CapitolBeatOK, he said, “We have more than 30 investigators in the field to help Oklahomans avoid scams, fraud and price gouging as communities work to recover and rebuild.”

He encouraged consumers to watch out for repair services and contractors wanting up-front payment for jobs, who pressure for immediate decisions, or who accept only cash payments. Pruitt said his office’s hotline number is a useful tool for consumers: 405-521-2029.

Tuesday, President Obama said the federal government would support Gov. Mary Fallin and the people of Moore “every step of the way.”

Fallin visited the devastated area again Tuesday morning and said the destruction was the worst she’s ever seen. Falin’s office said she would conduct a noon news conference Tuesday and keep Oklahomans informed on recovery issues.

At the Capitol, state Rep. Joe Dorman, D, Rush Springs, said he would push for a special bond issue to promote accelerated construction of storm shelters throughout the Sooner State.

You may contact Patrick B. McGuigan, Oklahoma City bureau chief for the Watchdog.org network, at Patrick@capitolbeatok.com and follow us on Twitter: @capitolbeatok.

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RECOVERY: Lea Bessinger salvages a picture of Jesus as she and her son Josh Bessinger sort through the rubble of the elder Bessinger’s tornado-ravaged home Tuesday in Moore, Okla.

By Patrick B. McGuigan | CapitolBeatOK

OKLAHOMA CITY — After the storm, both firefighters and residents rode, then ran, to the homes and the schools, launching a search for survivors and a recovery of remains. Accustomed to nature’s fury in spring tornadoes, Oklahomans do their best to ride out the storm, then show up after.

This tornado, designated an F-4 initially but possibly an F-5, dropped from the clouds Monday west of Newcastle, southwest of the city, crossed the Canadian River about 3 p.m., thereafter to plow through the heart of Moore, a community south of the Oklahoma City. It moved pretty much straight East. After doing significant damage to the water treatment plant at Lake Stanley Draper, it lifted back into the skies.

The wide path and lengthy course of the storm make it certain that hundreds and perhaps thousands of homes were destroyed. At least two elementary schools — Plaza Towers and Briarwood — were devastated.

At Plaza Towers, several children were rescued from the rubble and passed along a human chain to the triage area nearby. By nightfall and then overnight, much of the work was focused on recovery at that site.

A Facebook message from a friend listed a picture of a child missing from the Step Above Learning Center at 149th and Western.

In north Oklahoma City, The Chabad Jewish Center established itself as a shelter for families with children, and for the healthy elderly. Rabbi Ovadia Goldman told me the Center was to open Tuesday at 7:45 a.m. to accept non-perishable items, especially water and toiletries. They will work until 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, then start over Wednesday.

The Chabad are in contact with their worldwide network; the local link is www.jewishokc.com/relief

Glenn Beck, of television and radio fame, was nearby when the storm hit. He came to town overnight with two truckloads of supplies, set up shop at First Baptist Church of Moore, and has promised to raise $2 million to help — much as he did after Hurricane Sandy in the East.

The Convoy of Hope, an international relief group based in Springfield, Mo., was on the ground quickly.

The Southern Baptists live here, and they were already on the ground by dusk with what many consider the best private relief operation in the world. The Red Cross and other steady groups were also in place as daylight waned in the western skies.

President Barack Obama and Gov. Mary Fallin spoke before nightfall Monday and he promised federal help. Fallin ordered the National Guard and Highway Patrol into the area as the tornado ripped through Moore. The state has been designated a major disaster area — the counties of Oklahoma, Cleveland, Lincoln, McClain, and Pottawatomie at the core.

Moore has experienced this before. Minor storms hit in 1998 and 2003 and a devastating storm came in 1999. Toby Keith, the popular country music star, Monday night recalled riding his bicycle through those same streets now impassable due to the wood and debris from destroyed homes.

Toby said his hometown would recover. They will.

In the Old Testament Book of Kings, the story is told of the prophet Elijah, taking shelter in a cave at the mountain of Horeb. He receives a message to stand at the mouth of the cave, for “the Lord will be passing by.”

As he stands looking out, there comes “a strong and heavy wind” crushing crocks and rending the mountain; then an earthquake; then fire. That day, God was not in any of those things.

Then, “After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.” That was the voice of God, asking the man, “why are you here?” (1 Kings 19: 9-13)

After the storm, it is natural to wonder, why are we here? Why were we spared and others taken? What can we do now?

This is the time of the tiny whispering sound in the midst of chaos and confusion, the voice of comfort, and support for places of solace. We best serve when we serve one another, assisting with both practical provisions and spiritual petitions to Heaven — for comfort and security, listening to memories, offering the balm of touch, and the eloquence of presence.

Contact Patrick B. McGuigan, Oklahoma City bureau chief for the Watchdog.org network, at Patrick@capitolbeatok.com and follow us on Twitter: @capitolbeatok.

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PENSION PERFORMER: State Rep. Randy McDaniel, R-Oklahoma City, sponsored historic pension reforms in 2011. He pushed an incremental step toward reform this year in House Bill 2077 — and says he is “disappointed” Gov. Mary Fallin vetoed his bill intended “to improve mobility, freedom and economic opportunity.”

By Patrick B. McGuigan | CapitolBeatOK

OKLAHOMA CITY — Gov. Mary Fallin wanted to consolidate Oklahoma’s half-dozen employee pension funds, but did not happen this year.

And that likely contributed to her decision to veto a reform that would have shifted some government employees away from the defined-benefit system pension that many analysts say is unsustainable.

An attempt to override her veto may seem like a long-shot, but is not out of the question.

Fallin made the case for administrative consolidation in February, but did not press the issue until March.

Consolidation never made it into a “live round” bill during this year’s process. Fallin and state Treasurer Ken Miller estimate the Sooner State could save 15 percent by establishing one set of managers across the seven government pension funds. State employee groups were uneasy, with firefighters the most vocal in direct opposition. This month, Miller told reporters consolidation would have to wait until 2014 because time had run out.

In a surprise, Fallin last week vetoed House Bill 2077, a measure that would have put all elected officials in a defined-contribution plan and allowed new state employees that option. A defined-benefit system typifies the vast majority of state employees, but some younger workers want choice.

A news story in The Oklahoman hinted the veto was driven by her frustration over lack of progress for consolidation.

This week, most legislative Republicans are reluctant to talk about the veto, and spokesmen for the legislative leadership would not comment Tuesday on the likelihood of a veto override.

However, Rep. Randy McDaniel, R-Oklahoma City, sponsor of H.B. 2077, told CapitolBeatOK the governor’s veto was “disappointing. The bill offered a new defined-contribution plan available to all future state employees that participate in OPERS (the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System), the state’s largest government pension fund.”

Many younger workers want the portability of a 401(k)-style system, and do not plan to spend entire careers in public service. And, such plans are on sounder actuarial footing.

Pension portability was the key feature of H.B. 2077, which McDaniel said was designed “to improve mobility, freedom and economic opportunity.” In the wake of 2012’s grim actuarial reports – when it was revealed that unfunded pension liabilities had jumped nearly $1 billion — employee groups actually supported McDaniel’s option for new hires.

In its final form, H.B. 2077 had 72-20 backing in the House and unanimous support in the Senate. McDaniel crafted historic reforms Fallin signed two years ago, trimming unfunded liabilities from more than $16 billion to less than $11 billion. Then, liabilities jumped last year due to poor stock market performance.

Fallin’s spokesman Alex Weintz explained the governor’s veto of H.B. 2077 this way:

“Governor Fallin believes that addressing the $11 billion of unfunded liability in Oklahoma state pension systems is critical. The governor feels that state leaders have an obligation to ensure that our employees have a fiscally sound retirement, which they have earned and deserve.

“Failing to address this issue also stands in the way of Oklahoma achieving a AAA bond rating. In fact, it puts the state in jeopardy of being downgraded by rating agencies, which will cost the state additional dollars. For all of these reasons, Governor Fallin is and will remain a strong advocate for significant pension reform.

“Unfortunately, HB 2077 qualifies as window-dressing, not real reform.”

The state’s leading conservative policy think tank, the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, would not comment on the chief executive’s veto of H.B. 2077.  In a May 14 “blog post” OCPA commented:

“Had the bill become law, (new) employees would have had the opportunity to choose between this new defined-contribution plan and the current Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS), a defined-benefit plan.

“For years OCPA has made the case for a defined-contribution plan. We believe that pension reform must:

• Ensure that current OPERS employees and retirees get the retirement they were promised;
• Set in motion a plan to pay down OPERS’ unfunded liabilities, ensuring that funding for core government services is not endangered by out-of-control retirement debt; and
• Establish a new retirement savings plan for state employees that fairly compensates them, ensuring that the state’s retirement contribution is comparable to that of private-sector employers.

“There is no doubt that pension reform will continue to be discussed in 2013 and will be a hot topic during the 2014 legislative session. The question is whether the solution that emerges will be a half-measure (such as a “cash balance” plan, or a defined-contribution plan which is merely optional) or a robust solution that brings Oklahoma into the 21st century: a defined-contribution plan.”

Fallin’s veto means that the incremental reform envisioned in H.B. 2077 will be delayed – unless legislators attempt to override her veto. In any case, the stage is getting set for a higher stakes battle over consolidation – and its potentially greater savings — next legislative session.

Contact Patrick B. McGuigan at Patrick@capitolbeatok.com and follow us on Twitter: @capitolbeatok.

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OKLAHOMA CITY – Moise Brutus, now a college student in Florida, lost both legs and part of his left arm in a 2010 motorcycle accident. He endured months of frustration when his recovery was supervised by what he deems Old Medicaid.

MEDICAID MAVERICK: Moise Brutus of Florida, a triple amputee since a motorcycle accident in 2010, is pushing market-oriented Medicaid reforms in Oklahoma and other states. Photo: Kansas Health Institute

Brutus, the subject of a five-minute video posted online, recalled that traditional Medicaid “kept giving me bad prosthetics, and those kept breaking.”

When his case was transferred to WellCare, part of the Medicaid Cure pilot program in Florida, things changed for the better.

His care administrator, Catherine Martinez, transformed his therapy and health regimen. “They got the prosthetic right in the first place,” he said.

He believes his change in fortune was driven by the difference between a “one-size-fits-none” mindset, and the dynamic, competitive approach available in Florida’s Medicaid Cure.

Pivotal to Medicaid Cure — Brutus and other proponents contend — is that patients (consumers) can choose among competing managed care businesses.

This week, even as Oklahoma got a major slap-down from President Barack Obama’s health care regulators, state policymakers began to look at dynamic market-oriented reforms taking hold in at least three states, including Florida — changes that have secured federal waivers from Medicaid administrators.

In each of those states, market forces are being used to improve medical care for Medicaid recipients, at lower costs to taxpayers, advocates say.

Florida’s Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), with the help of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA), organized a May 8 seminar for Oklahoma legislators to highlight reforms in the Sunshine State, and in Louisiana and Kansas.

Star of the state Capitol seminar was Brutus, the triple-amputee who, as he related his story, encouraged legislators to create an Oklahoma version of what is called a new Medicaid model.

“The government helped me get on my feet, yes,” Brutus told lawmakers in the Sooner State. “To me, the object is to move away from, to get off, government dependency.”

He continued, “There are others like me who can’t better themselves within the systems where there is no flexibility. I think the idea is to get people to a point of caring for themselves.”

He told the Oklahomans he is now at that point.

Concerning defenders of standard or Old Medicaid, Brutus asserted, “from my point of view it hasn’t worked, and it’s not going to work. So, it’s time to try something new. I’m going to school, then I’m going to get a job, then I’m going to pay taxes.

“I’m already giving back with involvement in bicycle races to support this cause. I see myself, in five years, having the horizon open to me. Whatever happens in my life will be good. Who knew this could turn out so well for me?”

FGA arranged Brutus’ visit to Oklahoma. The group has described traditional Medicaid structures as embodying a top-down “pay and chase” structure (i.e. pay claims, chase fraud) without the discipline of market competitiveness among providers.

Tarren Bragdon, FGA’s president, said the Florida pilot program, which began in 2005 under former Gov. Jeb Bush, incorporates choice, customized benefits, incentives for health rather than the convenience of providers, and accountability for all actors in the system – including plans, providers and patients.

Spending in those Medicaid Cure counties runs nearly $700 per person less than in the state’s traditional Medicaid programs, Bragdon reports. Florida officials estimate $118 million in system-wide savings have already been achieved, and projects that more than $900 million a year could be saved when the reform model is expanded statewide.

This week’s presentation included, via telephone, Maddie McAndrew, administrator of Louisiana’s Bayou Health program patterned on the Florida reforms.

McAndrew said the early transition away from traditional Medicaid, which began just over a year ago, “was chaos, but now it’s working. Our emphasis has included risk adjustments for each recipient.” She said the program is succeeding, as it did in the Florida program, because administrators have listened “to the stakeholders — the patients, the providers.”

The managed-care programs from Florida, Louisiana and Kansas, focused on Medicaid-eligible populations, are the basis for House Bill 1552 in the Oklahoma Legislature.

Insurance programs within the envisioned Oklahoma system would include long-term care, allowing some distinctions between urban and rural care systems. While the legislation will not advance in this legislative session, it remains a “live round” and could provide a vehicle for changes to Oklahoma’s system in 2014.

Among the two dozen legislators who met with Brutus and leaders of FBA were state Sen. AJ Griffin, R-Guthrie, a co-sponsor of H.B. 1552.

Contact Patrick B. McGuigan, Oklahoma City bureau chief for Watchdog.org, at Patrick@capitolbeatok.com and follow us on Twitter: @capitolbeatok.

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OKLAHOMA CITY — The Obama administration has denied  Oklahoma’s request to extend Insure Oklahoma, a program of premium assistance benefitting the Sooner State’s working poor. Oklahoma Gov. Mary

FALLIN FIGHTS FEDS: Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has asked President Obama to “keep his promises and reverse his decision to gut one of Oklahoma’s most successful health initiatives.”

Fallin in a letter Wednesday encouraged President Obama “to keep his promises and reverse his decision to gut one of Oklahoma’s most successful health initiatives.”

Cindy Mann, director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at the U.S. Department of Human Services, based in Baltimore, delivered the death sentence to the Oklahoma program — created in 2004 by a popular vote and fashioned by a bipartisan consensus — in a May 7 letter. The state got the letter Tuesday afternoon.

Referencing the Affordable Care Act, Mann wrote, “The new law will mean that an extension of the Insure Oklahoma program without any changes is not possible.”

In her letter, Mann contended the federal government is “committed to working with you on approaches that work for Oklahoma.” However, she continued, the SoonerCare Section 1115 demonstration includes enrollment caps, which “will not be approved.”

Mann suggested the program, which has provided access to the insurance market for thousands of low-income working Oklahomans, could be revised to include “products available in the individual and small business insurance market.” She wrote the federal agency “would welcome working with you … consistent with our guidance.”

Despite the agency’s refusal to approve extension of Insure Oklahoma, Mann wrote, “should the state decide to phase out the Insure Oklahoma program at the end of 2013, a phase out plan as provided for in paragraph 9 of your approved Special Terms and Conditions is due … by July 1, 2013.”

In a blunt reply to the letter from Mann, Fallin wrote Wednesday:

“Insure Oklahoma is a program that has been providing affordable health insurance to approximately 30,000 low-income Oklahomans since 2005. It is exactly the kind of successful, state-based solution to health care needs that the federal government should be encouraging. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration seems intent on dismantling the program, as evidenced by the recent denial of Insure Oklahoma’s Medicaid waiver. As a result, Insure Oklahoma will cease to exist at the end of this year and 30,000 Oklahomans will lose their current health care plans.

“This is the latest bad news in the ongoing train wreck that is the Affordable Care Act. It is outrageous that President Obama is actively dismantling the successful health care programs established by states in order to force citizens onto Obamacare health insurance plans.

“The president promised the American people, ‘if you like your  health insurance, you can keep it.’ He has not kept his word. Thirty thousand Oklahomans participating in Insure Oklahoma – and many more Americans across the country – are being forced off their health insurance plans.

“The president also promised the nation’s governors his administration would grant states the flexibility to pursue state-based solutions rather than one-size-fits-all policies. Again, that has proven to be untrue, as Oklahoma and other states are now finding their programs and waivers under assault by the Obama Administration.”

Fallin concluded: “I encourage the president to keep his promises and reverse his decision to gut one of Oklahoma’s most successful health initiatives.”

Contact Patrick B. McGuigan, Oklahoma city bureau chief for the Watchdog.org network, at Patrick@capitolbeatok.com and follow us on Twitter: @capitolbeatok.

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OKLAHOMA CITY – Gov. Mary Fallin was for Medicaid expansion before she was against it.

MEDICAID MOVES? Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin and other state officials are contemplating new steps on Medicaid reform, but insist they still want to avoid the costs and mandates in “Obamacare.”

For the past two years, she has stuck to her more conservative inclinations – often restating her intention for Oklahoma to go its own way. In this year’s State of the State address, Fallin said she wants to improve health outcomes, without the explosive costs envisioned under the Affordable Care Act.

Two legislators have developed a proposal to increase insurance premium assistance for the working poor under a homegrown Medicaid program started in 2004. Known as Insure Oklahoma, it has bipartisan support, but is destined for the ash heap of history under provisions of the ACA.

Some foes of the ACA, aka “Obamacare,” fear the Sooner State‘s leaders may be inclined to implement the president’s agenda indirectly. In a recent speech at the task force meeting for the American Legislative Exchange Council, Fallin reiterated her opposition to Obamacare Medicaid expansion, but said officials were working on a state reform that would involve waivers.

In response to questions from CapitolBeatOK, Fallin spokesman Alex Weintz said, “The short answer is, nothing has changed about the governor’s decision not to expand Medicaid as outlined in Obamacare. Her thinking on the issue has not changed.”

State Sen. Brian Crain, R-Tulsa, and Rep. Doug Cox, R-Grove, have proposed Senate Bill 640, to offer “premium assistance” for the purchase of health insurance, along the lines of Insure Oklahoma — explicitly designed to assist the working poor with access to better health care. Crain and Cox want to sustain Insure Oklahoma and expand its reach to children, mothers with children and poor adults in school.

However, unless it grants a waiver, the Obama administration has slated programs like Insure Oklahoma for termination Dec. 31. Crain and Cox say the state should seek a waiver, along the lines of that enacted in Arkansas on April 23, aimed at certain populations rather than the wholesale expansion of Medicaid envisioned in the ACA.

In a statement sent to CapitolBeatOK, Crain said, “We are currently discussing a waiver request for Insure Oklahoma that would provide federal support for premium assistance to low income applicants who are working, looking for work, going to school or caring for a child at home.”

Under the existing plan approved in a statewide referendum in 2004, Insure Oklahoma helps low-income workers buy private insurance. It is financed by Medicaid dollars. Voters have also approved use of tobacco settlement funds and taxes for health programs.

In an editorial, The Tulsa World characterized the Crain-Cox idea as “a decent compromise.”  The state’s largest newspaper, The Oklahoman in Oklahoma City, commented the state-based idea had appeal, but that Obamacare remains a bad idea.

As for the activist community, Michael Carnuccio of the free-market think tank Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, says the Arkansas plan is still “fool’s gold.”

“Oklahoma lawmakers should advance their own solutions to the problems dealt by the ACA. However, with a $16 trillion federal deficit, it may be unwise to build any Oklahoma solution on a broken federal treasury. And it is unclear that HHS in Washington will give states like Arkansas all of the free-market reforms they’re looking for,” said Christie Herrera, policy vice president at the Florida-based Foundation for Government Accountability.

She told CapitolBeatOK, “It’s important for Oklahoma to examine reforms like the one that passed the Florida House this year, which offered limited, targeted premium assistance to working young adults and low-income parents with state-only dollars.”

On the other side of the argument, supporters of Medicaid expansion include members of the Oklahoma Council of Churches. Two dozen ministers signed a joint letter in late April. Then, at a Capitol press briefing, organized by OCC’s Dr. William Tabbernee, a diverse group of preachers made the case for Medicaid expansion.

Even if the governor gravitated toward some new steps on Medicaid, she would need legislative support, and she might not get it.

Oklahoma Capitol Source, an independent online news organization, reported results of a survey of Oklahoma legislators. Of 41 responses garnered, 28 legislators opposed taking additional federal funds for Medicaid, nine supported Medicaid expansion as envisioned in Obamacare, and four said they preferred using federal funds for an Oklahoma-developed plan. Another 22 legislators are on-record as supporting Medicaid expansion.

Meanwhile, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, the agency that administers state Medicaid, is awaiting a report from the Leavitt Group, a consulting firm making a comprehensive study of low-income health care in Oklahoma.

Nationally, during the 2010 debate on the Affordable Care Act, federal Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and President Obama said Americans who liked their current insurance plans could keep them. For thousands of Oklahoma’s working poor, their “current plan” is Insure Oklahoma.

Given the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision allowing the state flexibility on Medicaid, a “waiver” could be as simple or elegant as approving current funding levels to sustain a program like Insure Oklahoma, allowing state legislators more time to consider a fresh cycle of homegrown solutions.

Contact Patrick B. McGuigan, Oklahoma city bureau chief for the Watchdog.org network, at Patrick@capitolbeatok.com and follow us on Twitter: @capitolbeatok.

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OKLAHOMA CITY – A government dominated by conservative Republicans will increase spending by at least $250 million next fiscal year, if the plans of the governor and legislative leaders are sustained in the budget process.

INCREASED SPENDING: For the third year in a row, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has signed off on a budget agreement that will increase state government spending.

At the state Capitol Blue Room, the widely anticipated spending increases were outlined Thursday.

As notable as the spending figures in the Capitol press briefing was the apparent sharpening of knives concerning the future employment of Corrections Department Director Justin Jones.

Gov. Mary Fallin, Speaker of the House T.W. Shannon, R-Lawton, and Senate President Pro Temp Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, joined with appropriations chairmen and other Republicans from both chambers to give the budget information to members of the state Capitol press corps.

Line items in the budget accord add up to a 4.1 percent increase in spending for fiscal year 2014. Net expenditures will jump $267 million above the current fiscal year, a total that includes $17 million in supplemental spending, the officials said. Approximately $50 million in one-time money (from special or reserve funds) is built into the total.

Spending hikes to be finalized in the next two weeks project $74 million more for common education (K-12), $33.3 million for Higher Education, and $3 million for CareerTech.

State officials previously announced the $17 million supplemental for the current fiscal year, to cover teacher benefits and ad valorem reimbursements to local districts. That brings the common education boost to $91 million – 43 percent of all the “new” money in the projected  2014 budget.

The Health Care Authority will get $39.7 million “to improve operations and Medicaid coverage,” according to a summary of the agreement. Other health care spending hikes include $13 million for the Oklahoma State University Medical Authority “to maintain and secure operation partnership at Tulsa’s OSU Medical Center.”

The state Department of Human Services lands $44 million in additional resources to focus on implementation of the Pinnacle Plan, a reform of children’s services flowing from a lawsuit settlement reached in 2012.

Officials also had previously disclosed a spending boost for the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services; the accord among state leaders put the total hike at $17.4 million.

As part of a “pay-as-you-go” infrastructure agreement — fashioned as an alternative to bonded debt — $30 million will be added for maintenance in the State Buildings’  Revolving Fund. Another $60 million is planned to pay for state Capitol repairs and refurbishment.

Other spending increases include $3 million for the governor’s closing fund (an economic development tool Gov. Fallin requested in 2011), $3 million in additional drought relief funds, and $1.5 million in startup money for the newly-created administrative system for workers’ compensation.

Many questions at the briefing focused on the Corrections Department and its director who has been embroiled in controversy in recent days for having — other state officials say — more in operating and reserve funds than previously believed.

In response to a question from Oklahoma Watchdog, state Finance Secretary Preston Doerflinger said the “discrepancy” between the agency’s actual reserves and previously disclosed accounts amounted to some $6 million. State Sen. Clark Jolley, R-Edmond, said he believes “the dates of encumbrances” are an issue of “greater concern” than the total.

Fallin refused to give Jones of the correction department any vote of confidence, saying she wanted to give her recent appointees to the Corrections Department board time to evaluate the agency’s operations.

Fallin and Shannon said the appropriation to infrastructure might emerge as a method to finance a “state share” for completion of the Native American Cultural Center on the Oklahoma River.

Despite the increased spending, Democratic critics faulted the budget accord as inadequate for state needs. At his weekly briefing for the Capitol Press Corps, House Minority Leader Scott Inman, D-Del City, assailed the “fiscally irresponsible” income tax cut slated to take effect in 2015 and 2016. Joined by state Reps. James Lockhart, D-Heavener and David Perryman, D-Chickasha, Inman said the state should have instead increased spending for health care, education and other areas of government.

Inman characterized the $74 million boost for public education as “wholly inadequate.” He asserted the total means K-12 education will face a “net cut” in real dollars this December.

Inman and his colleagues also said government employees deserve pay hikes.

Doerflinger and Fallin said the administration would wait on pay increase proposals until completion of a study he is guiding. Democrats argued strongly for pay hikes for state Troopers, Corrections officials and others, as prelude a wider pay increase.

House Democrats supported the health care spending increases for Tulsa-area facilities. Inman and his colleagues said they “didn’t play much of a role” in budget negotiations. Inman also said the majority of House Republicans had no budget details until a caucus meeting on Thursday morning.

Michael Carnuccio of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA), the state’s leading free market think tank, told CapitolBeatOK, “For the third budget cycle in a row, Republican control of state government has produced increased government spending, no immediate tax cuts for families, and continued earmarks for pet projects.”

Contact Patrick B. McGuigan at Patrick@capitolbeatok.com and follow us on Twitter: @capitolbeatok.

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OKLAHOMA CITY — Legislation soon headed to Gov. Mary Fallin would make dramatic changes to the Sooner State’s workers’ compensation insurance

LABOR LEADER BACKS REFORM: Oklahoma Commissioner Of Labor Mark Costello says, “The days where trial lawyers dominated Oklahoma politics for their own economic interests are at an end. After all, it is workers’ comp, not lawyers’ comp.”

system. Legislators have pretty much had their say on it, save for what is expected to be brief final deliberations in the state Senate in the next week or two.

Given Republican unity and their overwhelming majority at the state Capitol, legislative Democrats and their allies are going to lose this battle, but in the walk-up to the final vote, perhaps as soon as next week, foes of the bill continue to make their case.

Key regulators in statewide elective offices praise the bill’s shift from a litigious system to an administration structure. Commissioner of Labor Mark Costello deemed the legislation, Senate Bill 1062, “historic.” Oklahoma’s new administrative system means that workers’ comp lawyers will no longer trump the well-being of the injured and job creators. The adversarial system in Oklahoma has until now been an injustice to the injured worker and a hindrance to job creation.

Costello praised the legislation’s framework for “adopting best practices from neighboring states, placing Oklahoma in competition for new and better paying jobs while retaining existing jobs.”

Commissioner of Insurance John Doak recalled, “Workers compensation reform is a subject I identified as critical and important to our state from the moment I was elected. Oklahoma has one of the highest average costs of Workers Compensation benefits in the nation, at a rate of $830 per employee. Because Arkansas and Texas are under $300 per employee, this has not only had an impact on our state economy, but also limits the growth of local business.”

Senate President Pro Temp Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, hinted the upper chamber will accept House revisions to his original bill, saying, “Putting the brakes on the runaway cost of workers’ compensation is the single most important thing we can do to encourage job growth and economic development.”

House Democrats were furious over late changes that came early this week, making the bill even friendlier to business interests. The “floor substitute” for earlier language came Monday evening. The revisions led state Rep. Richard Morrissette, D-Oklahoma City, to assert, “The winners were the biggest, wealthiest corporations of this state. The losers were Oklahoma families and small businesses.”

James Lockhart, a Heavener Democrat, observed Wednesday, “A 200-page document was filed at 7 p.m. Monday evening and we’re voting on it less than 48 hours later. How can we make an educated vote on something that will affect every working Oklahoman? No Democrat was part of this working group that wrote this bill. I voted for a lot of worker’s comp reform in the past, but I will not vote for a bill if I can’t make an educated decision.”

When the substitute language was considered, state Rep. Leslie Osborn, R-Mustang, moved to “advance the question.” That ended debate and precluded a cluster of 14 amendments Democrats had prepared that focused on medical costs and reimbursement rates.

State Rep. Emily Virgin, D-Norman, maintains the language will reduce benefits by 30 percent, asserting, “most of the cost savings in this bill come from cuts to the benefits to injured workers.”

Rep. Ben Sherrer, D-Pryor, reflected, “It’s a hazard of the majority to do something just because you can, not because you should.”

Now that the bill is expected to make its way through final Senate consideration, arguments are turning to what the financial effect of the reform will be.

Andrew Spiropoulos, an Oklahoma City University law professor, noted in a March commentary that the National Council on Compensation Insurance had “scored” annual business savings of $138 million, lowering workers’ comp costs an impressive 14.2 percent if the measure passes.

However, the State Chamber says savings will be almost twice as high – perhaps $260 million – because of savings anticipated from the new  administrative system.

This week’s three-hour floor debate frustrated Morrissette because the majority prevented consideration of the bevy of Democratic amendments. He asked, “Why not let the legislative process work?” At one point Morrissette credited the Insurance Department for hearings and information forums held to detail the emerging changes.

Democrats had to make their case without Minority Leader Scott Inman, D-Del City, who left the Capitol after his mother was injured in an accident.

Costello summarized what might, politically, be the most significant thing about anticipated passage of the administration system, telling CapitolBeatOK, “The days where trial lawyers dominated Oklahoma politics for their own economic interests are at an end. After all, it is workers’ comp, not lawyers’ comp.”

Contact Patrick B. McGuigan, Oklahoma City bureau chief for the Watchdog.org network, at Patrick@capitolbeatok.com and follow us on Twitter: @capitolbeatok

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OKLAHOMA CITY — Both a major change in state workers’ compensation insurance provisions and a moderate income tax reduction are within reach at the Oklahoma Capitol, top lawmakers say.

The items are key elements in the oft-stated conservative Republican agenda for the 2013 Legislature, which has seemed to be on shaky ground in recent weeks. With the clock ticking for the final weeks of this year’s deliberations, House Speaker

SHANNON: We’re on the verge of reaching agreements on income tax cuts and workers’ compensation system reforms.

T.W. Shannon, R-Lawton, and Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, told Capitol reporters they are “close” to agreements on the “big ticket” items.

The two men also said, in a review of legislative progress, that Shannon’s proposal to make infrastructure improvements on a “pay-as-you-go” basis will also make it into law.

Gov. Mary Fallin said she wants a tax cut on her desk this year, whether the effective date is Jan. 2015 or sooner. Thus, the real question seems to be how quickly a new income tax cut might take effect.

Shannon reiterated his insistence that any delay before July 1, 2013, in the effective date of a lower income levy means it should be deeper than the .30 percent reduction proposed by the Senate. Shannon is determined to reduce the current 5.25 percent to as far under 5 percent as possible.

Bingman, grinning slightly during his briefing, told reporters he expects agreement on final language for House Bill 2032 by Thursday, the date by which the next round of procedural steps for this year’s enactments is required.

Pressed for elaboration, he explained, “I’m not going to announce there is common ground on anything. Until we have consensus I’m reluctant to start talking about the details.”

The Senate has made some important changes to H.B. 2032, the income tax vehicle, eliminating certain transferable tax credits and delaying the effective date of the legislation.

Casting a pall over the prevailing sense of optimism among the “Big Three” (the governor, president pro temp and speaker) is the “epic fail” of 2012, when an income tax cut package fell apart in the last few days of the session.

Perhaps with that in mind, Fallin’s spokesman Alex Weintz told reporters, “The governor and her team want a tax cut this year. Her preference, and she said it in the state of the state speech, is for 1/4^th percent right now. She wants something now. Her priority is she is asking for the Legislature to get a tax cut bill to her desk this year.”

Shannon endorsed supply-side orthodoxy in a recent interview.

“If we cut taxes it will grow revenue,” he said. “If we delay and don’t implement this year – not saying I want a delay – then I think there should be a deeper tax cut.”

Bingman, in another discussion of the issue, summarized his perspective: “I have a good relationship with the governor and with the speaker and we’re headed in the same direction. I want to be responsible in what we do. I’d like to look some at tax credits and tax reform.”

Shannon said his “bottom line is reducing the premiums our business have to pay.”

He expects the bill to be considered in the calendar committee on Monday.

Asked if he was concerned over House “tinkering” with his original Senate version of workers’ compensation reform, Bingham said it’s part of the process.

“I think at the end of the day what we’ll have will be good for business, a win-win for Oklahoma,” he said.

One envisioned change in workers comp is to allow what the two legislative leaders call “The Oklahoma Option.” Critics decry that as an “opt-out” provision to benefit only large business concerns.

Bingman disagreed with that characterization, telling reporters, “It’s the Oklahoma Option, giving options to businesses in Oklahoma. Even under alternative forms of coverage, they would still have to have benefits (for injured workers) that are now in state law.”

Among other matters debated this week, the Senate extended the so-called SHOPP, the Supplemental Hospital Offset Payment Program fee, one method for funding the state’s health care system. The hospital provider “assessment” or fee (some still deem it a tax) first passed in the 2011 session.

In this week’s meeting with the press corps, Bingman disagreed with critics who have characterized the SHOPP as a Medicaid expansion that is “hypocritical.”

Contact Patrick B. McGuigan, Oklahoma City bureau chief for the Watchdog.org network, at Patrick@capitolbeatok.com and follow us on Twitter: @capitolbeatok.

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OKLAHOMA CITY — Tenured professors and tax-financed researchers in higher education generally believe that public education spending is a “multiplier” — that is, that a dollar spent leads to much more than a dollar in economic activity.

ADDING IT UP: The State Chamber of Oklahoma says there is a nearly five-dollar “multiplier” for every taxpayer dollar spent on public higher education. The Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP) says “maybe not.”

Not everyone agrees with that assumption.

In fact, a top analyst of taxpayer spending on colleges and universities argues, “Government spending does not come out of thin air. Every dollar spent by state government comes out of the private sector at some point. A dollar of public spending is estimated to cost anywhere from $1.25 to $1.50 to raise.”

In short, Joshua Hall of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity challenges the accuracy of recent assertions that every dollar spent on public colleges in Oklahoma triggers nearly five dollars in economic activity.

Hall chided a State Chamber of Commerce study finding the public system of higher education is both a bargain and a wise use of taxpayer resources. The chamber analysis did not include a look at the number of sites in the system, administrative efficiencies and other traditional concerns of critics.

Concerning that asserted “multiplier” effect of taxes spent on higher education, CCAP’s Hall told CapitolBeatOK, “Ignoring these costs … is a surefire way to inflate the benefits.” He says that after taking the costs of taxation into account, the net effect of taxes spent on Higher Ed is zero, “at best.”

Battelle Technology Partnership conducted the analysis for The State Chamber study, reaching several positive conclusions, including an estimated “return on investment” of $4.72 for every $1 of tax funding.

Battelle’s Martin Grueber said the projected $4.72 return on each dollar spent is “pretty strong” in comparison to other states. Asked if the study looked at the positive economic effect if some of that money were left in the private sector, Grueber told CapitolBeatOK:

“We don’t look at that for the projects we do. We were trying to find the economic impact of those dollars spent in public institutions of higher education and play that out. We did not look at the fiscal stream, as such.”

In a recent study focused on Tennessee Higher Ed, Hall looked at costs for taxation (deadweight, compliance, enforcement, administrative). He concluded collection costs can reach half of each dollar raised, adding, “The marginal cost of public funds is at least 25 cents on the dollar.”

Concerning federal research funds for Higher Ed is headed, Grueber said, “Obviously due to sequestration there is presently a large impact. Analysts in my profession are thinking there might be an 8 to 12 percent drop in federal funding for research over the next year or so. It all depends on the agency. Agriculture will be different than Energy, and so forth.”

The Chamber release said every dollar in state funding draws an additional $2.24 in federal funding.

Oklahoma has more than 25 institutions of higher education, delivering services at about 50 sites. Graduation rates at some institutions are extremely low. Even at Oklahoma University and Oklahoma State University, the four-year rate is weak, improving after six years on campus.

In response to CapitolBeatOK’s question about the number of Higher Education sites, Grueber said, “We made no assessment of the structure of Higher Education.”

The report noted, “At the current time, and into the foreseeable future, it is hard to overstate the importance of education, and especially higher education, to economic and social progress in the U.S. In a modern, knowledge-driven economy the most valuable asset a state can possess is a well-educated and skilled populace.”

Chancellor Glen D. Johnson said at a recent Capitol news conference, “Our state system of higher education continues to produce graduates who live and work in Oklahoma, while our taxpayers continue to receive a substantial economic return from higher education.”

While advocates like Johnson and OU President David Boren want more money for Higher Ed, critics say the system will spend every penny it receives, with or without accountability.

One notable critic of Battelle-style analyses, Dr. Richard Vedder of Ohio University, told CapitolBeatOK, “Econometric analysis I have done suggests that the relationship between state appropriations for higher education and economic growth is actually negative — resources are taken from competitive private enterprise driven by market discipline and given to an inefficient sector sheltered from such discipline.”

Contact Patrick B. McGuigan, Oklahoma City bureau chief for the Watchdog.org network, at Patrick@capitolbeatok.com and follow us on Twitter: @capitolbeatok

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