Rep. Brian Hill, R-Mustang, hosted an interim study on Thursday, September 19, to examine Oklahoma's current and future workforce needs and how industry leaders and state agencies are working toward solutions. "Workforce pipelines are crucial to our long-term success as a state," Hill said. "It's critical that Oklahoma continues to innovate and ensure we are prepared to seize every opportunity presented to us." This is Hill's sixth annual interim study on workforce and economic development since taking office. "Too often we ask questions, do the study, send the press release, and then fail to follow up, which means we miss the big picture," Hill said. "Over the past six years, I've seen the ideas I heard about in my first few studies grow into programs that have started producing results, and I'm looking forward to seeing how those outcomes improve our state." Hill invited business leaders from several emerging industries to speak, as well as public officials. Oklahoma Center of the Advancement of Science & Technology (OCAST) Director Jennifer McGrail said conversations about the innovation economy center on Oklahoma City and Tulsa and sometimes fail to consider the rest of the state. McGrail said during FY23, OCAST created and retained 1,400 jobs within the state, totaling $74 million in salaries and wages. OKC Innovation District Chief Financial Officer Kathy Cullen explained that they are primarily focused on the bioscience industry. The District received $35 million through the federal Build Back Better grant, which they've allocated to several projects, including 10 translational research labs dedicated to drug discovery within the OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center. Cullen told the committee that Oklahoma is in an advantageous spot. She said scientists recently began growing knee meniscus in microgravity, as well as experimenting with growing heart tissue. "We're here to talk about economic innovation, so that’s stuff that’s not currently happening today, it's new stuff," Cullen said. "You're going to need a kidney. They're going to take cells from your body. They're going to take them to outer space and they're going to grow a 3D kidney just for you and they're going to come back and put it in your body and you will not have rejection issues." Cullen told the committee that one of Oklahoma's biggest assets was Burns Flat, one of 13 licensed spaceports in the U.S. She also praised the efforts of Jim Bridenstine, former National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) administrator and U.S. representative, to connect aerospace industry CEOs with Oklahoma leaders. "So if you can land it, produce it, Oklahoma is the entire package," Cullen continued. "So we have some assets sitting here that have been developed with intentionality and what we need is the state to get behind us. We need the state to understand that this is the next 30 to 40 to 50 years." Dr. Jesse McCool, CEO and co-founder of Wheeler Labs, said Oklahoma is situated to be a top biomanufacturing state, but said there are challenges, including marketing. "We definitely need to tell a story about how Oklahoma is supporting new verticals and new industries," McCool said. "It's not just an oil and gas state." McCool said support from the Legislature would go a long way toward making Oklahoma a top destination for biomanufacturing and biotech. He gave the example of Australia, which implemented a rebate program to attract biotech companies and has made them a "go-to" country for phase one clinical trials for biopharmaceuticals. During the afternoon segment of the interim study, which focused on job seekers, Dr. Cassidy Minx with the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education said over the past decade, the total number of engineering degrees increased by 43.1%, while STEM degrees increased by 19.2%. Minx also spoke about resources OSRHE is developing to connect students with businesses offering tuition assistance, including the recently launched Tuition Assistance Benefit Survey. "It's a list that we've published on our website of employers that offer tuition assistance in some capacity to their employees," Minx said. "We then share this with our colleges and universities so they can share it with students to connect them with employment so they can see what businesses might offer a tuition benefit to help them continue their education." Secretary of Education Nellie Tayloe Sanders said that while an educational system that prioritizes reading as the best method of learning works well for most people, it presents many barricades for thousands of people. "We are not all worker bees," Sanders said. "We're not all made to do the exact same thing. And the education model we have at this very second is a very, very narrow lane." She said reading-to-learn models are particularly challenging for those with learning disabilities like dyslexia, including Sanders. When students get behind at an early age, she said, it's a constant struggle to keep up, let alone excel. "If we have people who are in a reading-to-learn model like we have right now, we're going to have more prison pipelines than we are workforce pipelines," Sanders said."
Rep. Mark Tedford, R-Tulsa, recently held an interim study examining the impact of state unemployment tax on economic development. Unemployment benefits, funded through unemployment insurance taxes (SUTA) levied on state employers, provide financial support for employees transitioning between jobs. Despite the essential function of these benefits, Tedford said misconceptions exist regarding how the system operates and who is responsible for funding it. IS24-103 was held before the House Business and Commerce Committee and studied how Oklahoma collects tax and pays benefits compared to other states and whether this process impacts the state's business environment. Trae Rahill, Oklahoma Employment Security Commission's (OESC) executive director, compared Oklahoma's unemployment insurance system to neighboring states—Colorado, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, and Kansas—highlighting key factors like taxable wage base and tax rate. He pointed out that TaxFoundation.org rates Oklahoma's system the best and that it is the only state that has never borrowed from the federal program. The taxable wage base is the maximum wage employers pay, with Oklahoma being one of 34 states that determine this cap based on economic factors. However, other states may base their caps on different economic indicators. Sixteen states, including four neighboring states, set the caps legislatively. "The advantage of an economically derived cap is that it will adjust to changing economic conditions," Tedford said. "Oklahoma uses 50% of the average annual wage to determine its cap at $27,000. This means Oklahoma employers pay unemployment tax on the first $27,000 of wages per employee. Unfortunately, most of our surrounding states legislatively set their wage base much lower than Oklahoma. The only other neighboring state that economically derives the wage base, Colorado, is the only state higher than ours." Tedford said the tax rate employers pay for SUTA is based on the number of unemployment claims made against them over time. A new employer will start with a default tax rate of 1.5% on wages, adjusted based on the employer's experience after four quarters. While Oklahoma's default rate is the lowest in the region, its maximum rate of 9.2% is the highest. Executive Director of the State Chamber Research Foundation, Ben Lepak, commented that employers seeking to move into or increase their footprint in Oklahoma will look at the total dollar cost of the unemployment insurance burden, certainty of the rate, and ease of compliance. Lepak said several states offer a "buy down" feature that allows them to reduce and stabilize their rates while reimbursing the state for the benefits provided. Christy Rawlings, commissioner for the OESC and owner of Prime Recruiting, highlighted that Oklahoma's high taxable wage base created a competitive disadvantage for employers wanting to increase their presence. She also reiterated Lepak's comments that a "buy down" option would greatly help companies looking to expand in Oklahoma to stabilize their unemployment insurance cost. "Overall, Oklahoma's unemployment insurance system is well-funded and well-managed," Tedford said. "I intend to work with the OSEC and other stakeholders in the state to implement these recommendations to create a better business environment for employers in Oklahoma without changing benefits for workers in transition."
OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Steve Bashore, R-Miami, has requested an opinion from Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond concerning Oklahoma residents' ability to fill prescriptions at an Oklahoma pharmacy when prescribed by an out-of-state medical provider. Bashore said the problem affects Oklahomans statewide. He meets with members of the Oklahoma Pharmacy Board in Miami on Monday to discuss the issue and potential next steps to get Oklahomans access to the prescriptions they need. "This issue impacts constituents not only in my House district but any Oklahoman that seeks medical care outside of our state," Bashore said. "Rural areas disproportionately suffer from a lack of health care specialists, forcing residents to seek care where they can find it, including across state lines. My goal is to ensure Oklahomans can obtain needed health care and medications at places that are optimal for them." Bashore said the problem was brought to his attention by a local pharmacist, who shared a letter from the Oklahoma State Board of Osteopathic Examiners explaining that a recent Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and dangerous Drugs (OBNDD) audit of the Prescription Monitoring Program returned prescriptions for controlled substances written by a doctor in Joplin. The letter stated the doctor holds no valid Oklahoma license to practice medicine – a violation of state law, according to the board. The letter directed the physician to cease practice in Oklahoma immediately. Failure to comply could result in legal action, including a complaint being filed with his state medical board, the letter advised. After reviewing the letter and receiving additional information from the Oklahoma Pharmacists Association, Bashore sought the opinion of the attorney general. He asks the answer to four questions: Is a medical provider (MD/DO/Podiatry/PA/APRN/Dentist/Vet) located outside the geographical boundaries of the State of Oklahoma required under state law to obtain a license to practice health care in the state by an Oklahoma professional licensing board when the patient (an Oklahoma resident) travels to another state for care? Is a medical provider (MD/DO/Podiatry/PA/APRN/Dentist/Vet) located outside the geographical boundaries of the State of Oklahoma required under state law to obtain a license by an Oklahoma professional licensing board when the patient care occurs outside the state but a prescription for a non-controlled drug is sent to a pharmacy within Oklahoma? Is a medical provider (MD/DO/Podiatry/PA/APRN/Dentist/Vet) located outside the geographical boundaries of the State of Oklahoma required under state law to obtain a license by an Oklahoma professional licensing board when the patient care occurs outside the state but a prescription for a controlled drug is sent to a pharmacy within Oklahoma? Is a medical provider (MD/DO/Podiatry/PA/APRN/Dentist/Vet) located outside the geographical boundaries of the State of Oklahoma and is not licensed by an Oklahoma professional licensing board required to obtain a registration from the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (OBNDD) when the patient care occurs outside the state but a prescription for a controlled drug is sent to a pharmacy within Oklahoma? Bashore said he feels the Oklahoma State Board of Osteopathic Examiners is being overly broad in its interpretation of state statute, the reason he's seeking clarification. "I want to keep people safe, but we must allow rural residents the freedom to find health care that meets their needs, even if that is from an out-of-state provider." Bashore said he'll run legislation if necessary to clarify the law, depending on the response from the attorney general.