December 3, 2019 Issue, Page 4 of 10

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Page 4 The Elk City News, Elk City, Oklahoma Tuesday, December 3, 2019 Ignore tactics deployed by Opinion Page “ElkCituNews opponents of Medicaid expansion Serving Western Oklahoma since 1901 Muskogee Phoenix, Okla. states -- there are only 14 warned about the prospect of sure payments to rural hos- Thankful to those who Overwhelming support today -- to refuse federal hospital management com- pitals like those in Haskell among Oklahomans for the funding available for Med- panies with questionable support foster children long overdue expansion of icaid expansion. Those tac- reputations benefiting from County, where unemploy- Medicaid coverage in this tics faltered as the human Medicaid expansion. Using ment rates are higher and By Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy CEO Joe state seems to have instilled toll mounted, and residents Haskell County Community household incomes are low- Dorman a little fear in those who undertook what their elect- Hospital as an example, the er, when care is provided. As we approach Thanksgiving, I want to express my have blocked access to com- ed officials would not and Broken Arrow Republican When health care providers appreciation for everyone who is working to improve the prehensive health care to moved it forward as an ini- warned other lawmakers lives of children. I had the opportunity to visit with many of those who can least afford it. tiative petition. about how one of those com- get paid, those who are in- those people in-person this week at a community luncheon Scare tactics have been As proponents of State panies effectively destroyed sured generally are rewarded held by Youth and Family Services, Inc. of El Reno, and used to diminish support for Question 802 began gath- the hospital within months it was a great reminder of how lucky we are to have hard- with lower premiums. many things, and expanded ering what turned out to be after it took over operations working advocates for children in every corner of the state. access to health care is no more signatures than to any in 2017. Oklahoma voters have The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy’s (OICA) exception. It was a tactic previous initiative petition, Like many rural Okla- come too far to be swayed main project during this time of year is to support OK Fos- deployed before Congress opponents scrambled to find homa hospitals struggling now by last-minute options ter Wishes, a gift drive that helps ensure foster children re- passed and President Barack alternative options -- law- today for survival, Haskell that either have not been ceive holiday presents. We connect “wish lists” put togeth- Obama signed into law the makers assembled a task County Community Hospi- er by foster kids and their Department of Human Services Patient Protection and Af- force and the governor has tal may not have had to hire thought through, have been caseworkers with donors in 60 counties that purchase the fordable Care Act, which an idea he has yet to unveil. a third-party management tried and proven unsuc- presents on these lists (the other 17 counties have their own provided states money to ex- Now that those signatures company had the state ex- cessful, or simply by scare gift drive programs). OICA and our partner organizations, pand health care coverage to have been certified and it ap- panded Medicaid in 2014. tactics and false narratives. including DHS, help to get 8,000 children in foster care low-income individuals, and pears all but certain voters With expanded coverage, their own personalized, specially requested holiday gifts. again during the dozens of will see the issue on a ballot, it is expected an additional It’s time for Oklahomans to As of Monday, we had just about 550 wish-lists remain- attempts to repeal it. those who would rather it 200,000 Oklahomans who bring some of those tax dol- ing to distribute to donors. If you would like to request a Similar schemes were not seem to have fallen back otherwise could not afford it list, please go to okfosterwishes.org and submit your infor- lars they send to Washington cooked up here to ensure to using scare tactics. would have health care cov- mation. You can also help by making a financial contribu- Oklahoma remained one The latest is from a phar- erage. back home and expand Med- tion to help OICA purchase items for the small percentage of a dwindling number of macist turned lawmaker who That coverage would en- icaid. of lists that are never filled. This holiday season, we are certainly giving thanks to all the generous individuals who have donated gifts or money to make this effort successful. We are also thankful this year for a new partnership with Merit protection reform in Oklahoma worth pursuing the Oklahoma Blood Institute, which is allowing OICA to use their “Share Thanks” mobile app to allow foster fami- lies to thank donors directly (and anonymously) for help- ing provide gifts. This has been a great way to make con- nections between our community of foster families and the The Oklahoman, Okla- ployees from being fired or at the Oklahoma Health Care He also said a combined many Oklahomans working to support them. If you are an homa City disciplined. Authority, whose 525 em- 1,312 state workers were let OK Foster Wishes gift donor, we encourage you to down- In a 2013 op-ed in The During a recent interim ployees are all unclassified. go in 2017 and 2018, either load the app to connect with our foster community. Oklahoman, Mark Costello, study by Osburn, Mike Jack- She has overseen classified through firings or reductions Finally, as we enter the holiday season, we are thankful who was Oklahoma’s labor son, executive director of and unclassified workers; in force. “You have this mis- commissioner at the time, the State Chamber of Okla- she formerly was human re- for those who work to include OK Foster Wishes into their conception that you can’t holiday shopping plans. Please consider taking a wishlist wrote about his desire to homa, said roughly 65% sources director at the state’s terminate classified employ- and shopping to fill it on Black Friday or Small Business change the merit protection of state employees are in mental health agency. ees,” Zearley said. “If you Saturday. Or, do your Cyber Monday shopping on Ama- system. “The concept of the classified positions, which Defenders of the status can’t, it’s because you’re zon Smile and use the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advo- public servant is lost to the places Oklahoma in the top quo argue that employ- cacy as your charity of choice! And when Giving Tuesday narrow interests of an out- one-third nationally, One ees can be fired “for things lazy -- period.” comes around, consider making a donation at oica.org to dated model of state govern- example of its bulkiness: they do that are really bad,” Costello sought to re- help us continue our mission. We cannot survive without ment,” Costello wrote. Oklahoma is the lone state Buettner said. “My question place the Merit Protection generous contributions that help us continue our mission State Rep. Mike Osburn, that allows state employees is, why do we have to wait Commission with a pre- all year long to ensure the best policies are implemented R-Edmond, feels the same to appeal their performance for something really bad to termination review process for children and programs like OK Foster Wishes thrive. way and is taking up the reviews, Jackson said. happen? There should be that would be overseen by Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and thank you for help- cause that Costello, who was “The current system is flexibility for managers to a three-person panel within ing the foster youth of Oklahoma! killed in 2015, wasn’t able to extremely bureaucratic and take action when they see it the Human Capital Man- complete. It’s an issue that inflexible,” Jackson said. He to resolve these issues.” agement Division. “State Don’t knock our film rebate certainly is worthy of atten- tion. said an analysis of the civil service systems of Oklaho- Sterling Zearley, head of the Oklahoma Public Em- employment should be a privilege, with protections, ‘Stillwater NewsPress, Okla. The merit protection sys- ma and six other states found ployees Association, said not a property right to be liti- The Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate Program was tem dates from the 1950s ours to be more rigid and can modernization of the merit gated,” he wrote. created in 2001, and when Gov. Kevin Stitt signed Senate and has been updated a few hinder job promotion. The protection system is needed The result of Osburn’s Bill 200 earlier this year, it ensured films made in Okla- times since then, most re- latter point is something Os- but that workers’ due-pro- homa will receive 35-27 percent rebates through 2027. cently in 1982. It affords burn has touched on -- good cess rights need to be pre- pursuit will be known in It also increases the cap on rebates approved from as high “classified” state workers workers should be able to be served. Zearley also said that time. He’s correct, however, as $4 million to $8 million, and an exception on the cap can various protections that can rewarded or promoted with- without the merit protec- in arguing that outdated per- be made for high-impact productions. A high-impact pro- make it difficult to be fired out unnecessary hurdles. tion system, whistleblowers sonnel management laws are duction is considered to be one in which the costs are equal or even disciplined. No such Osburn’s study heard from would face greater pressure a hindrance to the state, and to or greater than $50 million. red tape keeps “at will” em- Ellen Buettner, chief of staff from supervisors. that some reform is needed. There are many reasons why this rebate program is great Another reason to cheer U.S. for Oklahoma. For starters, it makes it more of an incentive for Oklahoma filmmakers to hold their productions within the state. It allows them to stay in the state as opposed to oil production filming in another location because ofa better incentive. Another benefit from this rebate program is that there is also more of an incentive for filmmakers from outside our state to come to Oklahoma as the site for their produc- The Oklahoman, Okla- EIA also said it expects to improve efficiency.” Put Arabia and members and tion. We have already seen a number of productions being homa City net exports of crude oil simply: the fracking boom. the oil-rich OPEC countries filmed in our area, with Matt Damon’s “Stillwater.” In an interview with and petroleum to average Less than two years ago, -- decisions they made about Some could look at this as a potential billion-dollar com- CNBC at the start of 2018, 750,000 barrels per day in the United States was the supply had major repercus- pany taking advantage of a rebate program when it could Continental Petroleum CEO 2020, compared with aver- world's No. 3 oil producer, sions here. That's no longer film its production anywhere it pleases. But there are 40 Harold Hamm said the age net imports of 520,000 behind Saudi Arabia and the case. Indeed, in Sep- states in the U.S. that offer rebates, as do other countries. United States could be a net barrels per day this year. Russia. Today the U.S. tember when missile strikes So simply put, there are rebate options for most states in exporter of crude oil and pe- It's good news that con- stands at No. 1, accounting in Saudi Arabia knocked the nation, and a company choosing Oklahoma as a filming troleum products by 2020. It tinues the remarkable resur- for 18% of the world's pro- out about 5% of global oil location says more about the state and less about the rebate seems Hamm was right. gence by the U.S. oil and gas duction, according to EIA. production, gasoline prices The U.S. Energy Informa- industry. It was November Saudi Arabia is second and in the United States barely option. tion Administration said last 2017 that the U.S. oil pro- Russia third. The Oklaho- With the potential of high-budget film companies look- moved. week that, based on prelimi- duction surpassed 10 million man's Adam Wilmoth notes ing to Oklahoma as a location for filming, there are also The International Energy nary data and model esti- barrels per day for the first that production in Oklahoma Association says it expects requirements to hire Oklahomans, who will spend those during the past decade has mates, the United States ex- time since late 1970. That wages in Oklahoma. Not to mention large casts and crews peak output nearly five de- followed a pattern like that OPEC to face a "major that will eat and shop here. ported 140,000 more barrels challenge" next year due It can also potentially serve to bring more of our state’s per day in September than it cades ago was followed by seen nationally. In January to weak demand and rising imported; in October, total a steady decline that made 2010, Oklahoma produced history to light. Filming in Oklahoma in many cases could non-OPEC supply. Faith this country more reliant on about 173,000 barrels per Birol, head of the IEA, said exports exceeded imports by mean a historical piece about a famous event or time in our imported energy. day. In May of this year, recently that the effects of state’s history being brought to the big screen for the first 550,000 barrels per day. The turnaround has pri- production reached a re- Said the EIA: "If con- the shale revolution "have time. It is exciting to think what movies could potentially marily been due, as EIA put cord high of 627,000 barrels be filmed and what stories could be told in Oklahoma. firmed in survey-collected it in a January 2018 report, per day. The oil production been striking, with U.S. With this rebate program continuing through at least monthly data, it would be to "production from tight numbers offer good news shale now acting as a strong the first time the United rock formations including for the country's national se- counterweight to efforts to 2027, it will be interesting to see how much the Oklahoma filmmaking scene evolves, as well as which productions States exported more petro- shale and other fine-grained curity interests. The United manage oil markets." That's will be filmed in our great state. leum than it imported since rock using horizontal drill- States for many years found a good thing, and here's hop- EIA records began in 1949." ing and hydraulic fracturing itself at the mercy of Saudi ing it continues.