With the 2011 session of the Oklahoma Legislature well underway, the Chamber is working to monitor the progress of our priorities. The following is the weekly Legislative Update sent to Chamber members who sign up to receive updates through the Chamber's Legislative Action Center. If you want to remain informed of what's happening at the capitol throughout the legislative session, visit www.legislativeactioncenter.net and sign up to receive these weekly updates.
MEMORANDUM
To: Greater OKC Chamber Membership
Subject: 2011 Legislative Session Update
Date: March 4, 2011
This week marked the end of the first month of the first session of the 53rd Oklahoma Legislature. In November, the Chamber Board of Directors adopted a comprehensive set of legislative priorities and many of those are now moving forward. To review the complete list of the Chamber's 2011 legislative agenda, please click here.
With the state facing an anticipated budget shortfall of approximately $500 million, the legislature is closely evaluating the need and effectiveness of many government programs. Included in that review process are economic development incentives used by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber's economic development team to attract new companies to Oklahoma and to assist in the expansion and growth of existing companies. The Chamber is working with the legislature to protect the economic development incentives we feel are necessary to allow Oklahoma to successfully compete with other states in the recruitment of new businesses. To see a list of critical incentive programs, please click here.
Following is this week's update.
Comprehensive Tort Reform Legislation Moves Through Senate
A series of major tort reform bills have been passed by the Senate and will head to the House of Representatives. The bills, authored by Sen. Sykes (R-OKC), contain a number of improvements to the state's civil justice system that will protect defendants from excessive verdicts that bear no relationship to actual damages. Key pieces of tort reform legislation now moving through the legislature are:
- SB 862 (Sen. Sykes) - Eliminates joint and several liability and protects defendants from judgments that exceed the degree to which they are at fault. Passed Senate 32-15 on February 28, sent to House.
- SB 863 (Sen. Sykes) – Limits non-economic damages in negligence cases to $250,000. The cap can be removed if Defendant's conduct is intentional or grossly negligent. Passed Senate 29-18 on February 28, sent to House.
- SB 864 (Sen. Sykes) – Requires that evidence of collateral compensation received by Plaintiff (insurance) be submitted to jury for consideration. Passed by House Judiciary Committee on February 8.
- SB 866 (Sen. Sykes) – Allows for the periodic payment of future damages (such as future lost earnings and future medical expenses) rather than requiring lump-sum awards. Passed the Senate on March 1.
- HB 2128 (Speaker Steele) – Limits non-economic damages in negligence cases to $300,000 and eliminates the Indemnity Fund. Passed House Judiciary Committee on 2/28.
In summary, major tort reform legislation is moving forward. There appears to be support for replacing the Indemnity Fund (which would pay for non-economic damage awards-such as pain and suffering-in excess of $400,000) with a cap limiting those damages to $250,000 (Senate bill) or $300,000 (House bill). There is opposition to these bills, so it's important to continue to remind your legislators of the importance of enacting comprehensive tort reform legislation this year.
For more information contact Mark VanLandingham.
Major Workers' Compensation Bill Passed by Senate Committee
A 205-page re-write of the state's laws on workers' compensation was passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 22 and will now move to the full Senate. SB 878 is the product of Governor Fallin's Workers' Compensation Task Force that was formed to address the state's skyrocketing workers' compensation costs. Oklahoma employers now pay the 4th highest workers' compensation rates (141% of the national average) in the country. Some of the significant changes proposed by SB 878 are:
- Mandates use of "Official Disability Guidelines" for the scope and duration of medical treatment. These provide up-to-date evidence-based medical treatment and disability duration guidelines to improve and benchmark outcomes in workers' compensation.
- Limits Total Temporary Disability (TTD) to 66 2/3% (was 70%) of the workers' weekly wages for not more than 156 weeks (was 300 weeks). This provision effectively cuts in half the duration of time over which a worker might receive payments from a workers' compensation claim.
- Creates a 'schedule of compensation'. This would limit Permanent Partial Impairment (PPI) awards to 70% of the worker's average weekly wage (AWW), not to exceed $323 per week, for injuries occurring from 8/27/10 through 8/26/15, and then to 50% of the State's AWW for injuries occurring thereafter.
- Caps lifetime Permanent Partial Impairment (PPI) awards at 520 weeks, except for awards for amputations and disability to body parts requiring surgery.
Working out the details on this 205-page bill will likely take most of the session. However, this is a comprehensive workers' compensation bill that will be expected to dramatically cut premium costs for Oklahoma employers.
For more information contact Mark VanLandingham.
House and Senate Committees Pass "Arizona Plus" Immigration Reform Legislation
More than 20 immigration reform bills were introduced this year. This week, sweeping "Arizona Plus" immigration reform legislation was passed by committees in both the House and Senate. HB 1446 by Rep. Faught, was approved Monday by the House Judiciary Committee will now move to the House Floor. Among other things, HB 1446 includes provisions (such as Arizona's law) that require state or local police to question the vehicle's occupants about their immigration statutes if the officer has a reasonable suspicion that they are in the country illegally. The bill also repeals part of a state statute that permits illegal immigrants who live in Oklahoma to enroll at a state college or university and pay resident tuition rates instead of higher non-resident rates.
In the Senate, SB 908 was passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday and will now move to the Senate Floor for consideration. The legislation, authored by Freshman Senator Ralph Shortey (R-OKC), also gives law enforcement officers broad powers to question and arrest suspected illegal immigrants and seize their property. The bill also contains provisions that require all employers to verify the citizenship status of their employees or face harsh penalties, including suspension of licenses and criminal punishment, for non-compliance.
Consistent with the position adopted by the Chamber's Board of Directors, we are opposing these bills and other state immigration reform legislation. The position of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber on state immigration reform is: "The Chamber opposes illegal immigration. The Chamber supports an improved immigration process that promotes the ability of students and workers/employees to enter the United States lawfully and allows employers to accurately verify the status of employees through a federal database. The Chamber believes that immigration policy should be set by the federal government and supports comprehensive reform at that level. Accordingly, the Chamber opposes additional immigration reform at the state level."
For more information contact Mark VanLandingham.
House Committee Passes Legislation to Create Task Force to Study Sale of Wine in Grocery Stores
In November, the Chamber Board of Directors adopted a position of "working with all stakeholders to examine the consequences and benefits associated with changing the state's liquor laws to allow for the sale of wine in grocery stores". Since then, the Chamber has met with various interests in the wine, liquor and beer industries, including wholesalers, retailers and the Oklahoma Grocers Association. The Chamber's goal is to determine whether all interested parties can agree to a proposal that would allow the people of Oklahoma to vote on whether wine and single strength beer should be sold in the state's grocery and convenience stores.
Last week, legislation was passed by the Senate Business and Commerce Committee that would create a task force to examine the issue and prepare legislation to move the issue forward. SB 658, authored by Sen. Clark Jolley (R-Edmond) was passed by the committee by a vote of 11-0 and will now move to the full Senate for consideration. The Chamber supports this legislation, as the task force would include representatives from the beer, wine and liquor industries. All but one of the states surrounding Oklahoma allow wine to be sold in grocery stores. The one that doesn't, Kansas, is presently considering whether to amend its laws to allow such sales to occur.
For more information contact Mark VanLandingham.
Bill to Reinstate Aerospace Engineer Tax Credit Passed by Full Senate, House Committee
The Aerospace Engineer tax credit was enacted in 2008 to assist in the development of the workforce required to meet the demands of the state's thriving aerospace industry. The credit allows aerospace engineers to receive partial tuition reimbursement if they go to work for an Oklahoma company within one year of graduation. The program also grants a tax credit to an aerospace company for part of the compensation paid to an employee who qualifies for the credit. In 2009, the one year the program was in effect, 348 new engineers were hired under the program. However, last year the program was placed under a 2-year moratorium to address the state's budget issues. Legislation seeking to restore the Aerospace Engineer Tax Credit, a Chamber priority, is moving on a fast track through the legislature, and has received the support of the Governor, both the Senate and House leadership, and Rep. Dank, who as Chairman of the House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Revenue and Taxation, is leading an effort to scrutinize the effectiveness of all of the state's tax incentive programs.
SB 3, by Sen. Mazzei (R-Tulsa), and HB 1008, by Rep. McNeil (R-Bristow), would restore the Aerospace Engineer Tax Credit effective July 2011. SB 3 passed the floor of the Senate this week by a vote of 45-2, and will now go to the House. HB 1008 was passed out of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee by a vote of 11-0, and now awaits consideration by the full House.
For more information contact Mark VanLandingham.
Supplemental Hospital Offset Payment Program Moves to Full House for Consideration
In an effort to find a long term solution to address full reimbursement funding for Medicaid services provided by hospitals, the Chamber supports HB 1381 by Rep. Cox (R-Grove).
HB 1381 would implement a Supplemental Hospital Offset Payment Program (provider fee) that the Oklahoma Hospital Association (OHA) has developed. This provider fee is intended to supplement, not supplant, existing state appropriations.
Under this legislation 77 Oklahoma hospitals would be assessed a fee of 2 percent (capped at 4 percent) of annual net patient revenue based on 2009 Medicare cost reports. There are 69 hospitals that would be exempt from the fee and only those hospitals that pay into the fund would receive the supplemental payments. This is not a tax or fee that could be passed on to the patient or physician. The program is expected to generate approximately $123 million available for the state's share in order to garner a federal match of approximately $228 million for a total of $351 million.
The bill is set to sunset in 2014 and any extension would require new legislation.
The bill passed the House Appropriations and Budget Public Health and Social Services subcommittee on February 11 and passed out of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee on March 2 by a vote of 12-1 where it now awaits consideration by the full House.
For more information contact True Wallace.
Teacher Due Process Reform Continues to Move
The top Chamber Education issue is to improve the ability of school districts to dismiss low performing teachers. In particular we want to remove the ability of a teacher who has been dismissed to appeal the local Board decision to district court (trial De Novo). This extra legal step can make it difficult and expensive to remove bad teachers. There are multiple bills related to this issue but the most important one is SB 1 by Sen. Ford (R-Bartlesville) is waiting to be heard by the full Senate.
There are other bills related to this topic that we will follow closely. In particular, HB 1457 by Rep. Denney (R-Cushing) and Sen. Halligan (R- Stillwater) which will replace the right to a trial De Novo with hearing in front of a three judge panel. This issue was discussed at the Joint Tulsa Metro and Greater Oklahoma City Chamber meeting and the group recommended that we do not support this approach. Chamber leaders believe local school boards should to make the final decision about teacher terminations.
For more information contact Drew Dugan.
Transformational Education Reform - (Oklahoma Incentive Grants)
We are encouraging leaders to create an in-state competitive grant program to fund education reforms. In short, we want to create an incentive program, funded with public and private resources, to reward local districts for creating and implementing local reforms. We worked with partners at the State and Metro Tulsa Chambers, George Kaiser Foundation, and Inasmuch Foundation and to develop the proposal. Governor Fallin agreed to support the effort. We are continuing to work with Secretary of Education Phyllis Hudecki and key staff to finalize language and program details. We hope this program will be part of the final budget agreement.
For more information contact Drew Dugan.
Charter School Funding
The Chamber will continue to be a leading advocate to help grow and improve charter schools. There are multiple pieces of legislation that will address to the two key challenges to charter schools – funding for infrastructure and expanding the ability to create charter schools.
There are several key bills to help improve the funding issues. HB 1835 by Rep. Shumate (D- Tulsa) and SB 260 by Sen. Ford (R- Bartlesville) will allow Charter schools to "issue bonds" which could help them generate revenue for infrastructure. Both have been passed by committees and are waiting to be heard by the full House or Senate. SB 256 by Sen. Ford, which will allow charter schools to qualify for government lease rates and reduce their costs, is waiting to be heard by the full Senate.
It is important to make it easier for communities to create charter schools. SB 605 by Sen. Ford (R- Bartlesville) will create a new Charter School Sponsoring Commission that will make it easier for some communities to create a charter school. This bill has base the Senate committees and is waiting to be heard by the full Senate.
For more information contact Drew Dugan.
Higher Education
The Chamber has been an ongoing supporter of higher education. Our policy position says, "The Chamber supports higher education funding as growth revenue is available and support leaving the tuition setting authority with the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education." Higher education authorities have request additional funding and we are closely monitoring legislative and budget discussions to see if we can help.
Also the Chamber has always opposed legislation that would allow anyone to carry a concealed weapon on a college campus. We are working to defeat efforts to allow concealed carry of firearms on campus.
For more information contact Drew Dugan.
Chamber Executive Committee Meets With Legislators
Members of the Chamber's Executive Committee, along with contributors to the Greater OKC Chamber Political Action Committee (PAC), have attended a series of breakfast meetings with legislators. Over the past several weeks, meetings have been held with freshman members of the Legislature, Speaker of the House Kris Steele and his House Republican Leadership Team and Senate Democrat Leader Andrew Rice and members of his Leadership Team. The breakfast meetings allow for an in depth discussion of the Chamber's legislative priorities with key members of the legislature. Future breakfast meetings are scheduled with Senate President Brian Bingman and members of his Senate Republican Leadership Team and with House Minority Leader Scott Inman and members of his Leadership Team.
If you're interested in participating in the Greater OKC Chamber PAC and attending future meetings with legislators, please click here.
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