Edmond Sun - 05/30/2018 OPINION
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OICA
releasing
lawmaker
report
cards,
candidate
surveys
T
he Oklahoma Institute for Child
Advocacy (OICA) is in the process
of compiling and publishing a
report card on the actions of the
Oklahoma Legislature as it pertains to
childhood well-being. Our report card
delves into policies dealing with foster
care issues, criminal justice reform and
improvements within
systems of government
aimed at boosting the
state’s child welfare
rankings. OICA
reviewed more than 20
bills, with 19 of those
being signed into law
by Governor Fallin. We
will have those results
Joe available at oica.org by
June 1 for your consid-
Dorman eration.
We also tracked two
For the
additional bills that will
Children not be on the scorecard
as they did not
advance far enough in
the Legislature to
receive a final vote.
One of those is House Bill 2858, which
sought to facilitate adoptions for chil-
dren in protective custody. HB 2858
would have required a parent of a child
who had been taken into protective cus-
tody by DHS to be notified that they can
voluntarily place the child up for adop-
tion with a licensed child-placing
agency. We appreciate Reps. Tammy
West and Mark Lawson for authoring
this in the Oklahoma House, along with
Senator Adam Pugh carrying the bill in
the State Senate.
The other bill, authored by Rep. Jason
Dunnington, was House Bill 3146, would
have re-established the Earned Income
Tax Credit (EITC) in Oklahoma. We are
thankful that Rep. Dunnington assisted
in the multiple efforts to have this
included within budget agreements.
OICA will continue to work on this tax
policy which provides significant relief to
working class Oklahomans who could
greatly benefit from this credit.
In addition to our report card, OICA is
in the process of contacting Oklahoma’s
legislative and executive branch candi-
dates for state government to ascertain
where they stand on policies that benefit
the children of Oklahoma. OICA and
multiple other children’s programs have
worked to designate 2018 as the Year of
the Child in Oklahoma. This is an effort
to increase awareness of Oklahoma’s
subpar rankings for child wellbeing and
to enlist the help of our lawmakers. We
are asking three simple questions and
allowing each candidate a 250-word
limit on each question. The questions
are:
1. What ideas will you pursue to better
the lives of Oklahoma’s children? For
example, what laws or policies will you
champion, what programs will you
attempt to expand or decrease, and
what area of interest regarding children
will you establish yourself as a leader
amongst your colleagues.
2. What have you done to support
children prior to this election? For exam-
ple, discuss policies which you have had
a direct impact in seeing implemented,
what volunteer work have you personal-
ly done to improve the lives of children,
or have you had a job which you have
worked with kids?
3. What will you do to support families
in your new role, if elected? For example,
would you support ideas such as
restoration of the Earned Income Tax
Credit, fiscal policy revisions for child-
related programs, criminal justice
reform, and/or list enhancements for
quality of life improvements for families?
We will publish the results of the sur-
vey in mid-June prior to the Primary
elections on June 26 so you will have the
opportunity to review answers.We also
encourage you, if you are not registered
to vote, to register before the June 1
deadline (go to ok.gov/elections or click
here to download a registration applica-
tion). Please make sure your voice is
heard in the upcoming elections, and
vote for candidates who will improve the
state for children!
© 2018 THE EDMOND SUN
Copyright (c)2018 Edmond Sun, Edition 05/30/2018
May 31, 2018 11:01 am (GMT +5:00)
THE FIRST AMENDMENT: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the
press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.
THE EDMOND SUN
Insurers’ ‘fail first’
prolongs patients’ pain
To the Editor,
As a rheumatologist, I've
seen firsthand how rheumatic
diseases can make even the
simplest tasks painfully diffi-
cult. My patients trust me to
help them lead healthier,
more comfortable lives.
Because there is no one-size-
fits-all approach to care for
rheumatic disease, I tailor
each patient's treatment regi-
men to their unique needs.
Unfortunately, when I pre-
scribe a medication that I
believe will work, insurers
often force my patients first to
try a drug that I know won't
Vigilance needed to
ensure education pay
raises used as intended
T
he teacher walk out last
month, I believe, taught all
those involved many things.
As a senator, I was very apprecia-
tive of all those who took the time
to come to my office to exercise
their constitutionally-given right
to come to their house, the state
Capitol, and express their posi-
tions with regard to education.
Of all the things I learned, the
two most repeated needs
expressed by educators and their
supporters was a desire for
smaller classroom sizes and
more pay for support personnel.
On April 3, Gov. Fallin signed
HB1026xx into law. I feel confi-
dent that our governor, like the
state legislature, passed this
measure into law with the intent
of providing increased pay for
education support personnel,
and no one else.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve
talked to educators in multiple
school districts around the state
who are extremely concerned
about talk of plans within their
districts to use the HB1026 sup-
port personnel funds to give rais-
es to administrative staff. These
educators have asked to be kept
anonymous to prevent retaliation
from their administration.
Whether school administrators
pro-rate these funds over a
twelve-month period, in an effort
to provide a more generous raise
for administrative staff, or to just
straight out provide a raise for
already generously-compensated
LETTER: YOUR VIEW
work — prolonging my
patients' pain and increasing
their risk of disability and
joint damage (in the case of
inflammatory forms of arthri-
tis). This absurd practice,
called "fail first," or step ther-
apy, undermines the clinical
judgment of physicians, leads
to delays in effective therapy
and puts patients' health at
unnecessary risk. By interfer-
ing in my patients' care, insur-
ers are essentially practicing
medicine without a license,
and it's my patients who suf-
fer.
Congress can remedy this
problem by supporting the
Restoring Patient's Voice Act
(H.R. 2077). This bill would
administrative staff, this is
absolutely not the intent of this
legislation according to anyone,
including legislators, who voted
for or followed this legislation.
The State
Department of
Education has
also released on
its website how
the funds are to
be used and
clarified that it is
not for adminis-
trative staff.
I would
Rob respectfully
Standridge request that any
school districts
that are con-
State Sen. R-
templating
Norman using this
money for any-
one other than
support person-
nel who work closely with our
students during the nine-
month school year, to not do
so.
In addition, several educators
have expressed serious concern
on the percentage of education
funds that make it to their local
classrooms where it’s most
needed. If one of the two most
important issues facing public
education is classroom size, it
seems irresponsible of districts
to spend less than a majority of
formula funds within their
school classrooms.
I’d like to encourage all who
Page : A04
WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 2018
empower patients to seek
exceptions to step therapy
and restore the role of physi-
cians in treating patients. It
would also require insurers to
consider the patient's medical
history and the provider's
expertise in partnership with
their own before denying a
treatment.
It's time to stop wasting
time and money on ineffec-
tive treatments just for the
sake of insurance company
policy. Elected officials should
put patients first by support-
ing this common-sense legis-
lation.
Sincerely,
Gayla Miller
Edmond
have a concern for education
funding to confirm what per-
centage of education funding
makes it to the classroom in
your school district, and if it’s
not a large majority you should
request that your school board
increase the percentage.
Deciding how to use education
funds is their responsibility,
and if it’s below 50% let me
know and I’ll demand an
immediate audit to determine
why more funds aren’t making
it to the classroom.
Finally, I’d request that before
districts use any additional
funds to give raises to adminis-
trative staff, or for nonessential
areas, that they leverage those
extra funds to further enhance
support personnel pay and do
whatever they can to decrease
class sizes. These are decisions
left up to local administrators
and school boards, not the leg-
islature.
The plans I’ve learned of to
misuse these funds surely are
very isolated, and I feel confi-
dent that the overwhelming
majority of school districts are
planning to use the funds as
intended; however, I think it’s
imperative that I bring this to
the attention of the citizens of
our great state so that we can
closely monitor our education
tax dollars to ensure that the
most pressing needs within our
school districts are addressed
first and foremost.
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TODAY’S VERSE A SELECTION
‘Humble
yourselves in the
presence of the Lord
and He will exalt you
James 4:10