Federal Issues
Federal Priorities for 2012
- Support efforts to expedite the implementation of the Arkansas River Corridor Project for river infrastructure improvements. Allow federal match credit to be accrued for state and local expenditures in order to advance construction activity while preserving the Tulsa region’s access to future federal funding for this federally authorized project.
Continue to advocate for appropriations at the federal level to match local, state and private funding for river infrastructure. Authorization of $50 million for such funding was secured in the 2008 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). The project is in the planning phase, so the first round of appropriations is needed for the planning and engineering, followed by full construction.
Matching private funds have been secured at both the state and local levels, but unfortunately federal requirements prohibiting supplanting have prevented local authorities from using these funds to begin planning. Allowing federal match credits to be accrued for state and local expenditures would allow planning to begin as soon as possible, while still adhering to Corps of Engineers guidelines and maintaining the Tulsa region’s eligibility for Corps funding. - Support fair and equal treatment of local businesses through passage of the Main Street Fairness Act, allowing collection of sales tax from online sales and preventing the further erosion of our local merchants’ competitiveness. Without this Act, Oklahoma retailers will continue to operate at a competitive disadvantage versus out-of- state online retailers who refuse to collect sales taxes on sales made within Oklahoma.
Under our nation’s current system of sales taxation, not all retail sales are created equal. While brick-and-mortar retailers must remit sales and use taxes, many remote sellers – such as catalog and online (i.e., internet) vendors – are exempt from such requirements. This creates a tremendously unfair competitive advantage (of as much as 10%) over their main street brick-and-mortar counterparts. Continued growth in internet usage and online shopping compounds the problem every month Congress fails to act to rein in the problem.
The Main Street Fairness Act would eliminate the present system's lopsided manner of taxing community-based retailers, make it easier for the consumer to fulfill his or her tax obligation and promote community investment. More importantly, it would provide support for local businesses and necessary revenue to state and local governments without adding to the federal deficit, without establishing new taxes or increasing existing taxes. It merely establishes a uniform, more effective and efficient means of collecting consumption taxes which are already due and owing, and eliminates a great and unfair disparity between community based retailers and their remote, on-line competitors. - Support timely reauthorization of the federal surface transportation programs including measures to permanently and adequately fund the Highway Trust Fund. Include funding for regional high priority projects: reconstruction of I-244; widening of I-44 east to the Will Rogers Turnpike; expansion of US 169 to 6 lanes north to SH 20; construction of a 4-lane Port Road from Hwy 11 to the Port of Catoosa; and the implementation of high priority transit corridors.
A well-maintained infrastructure is important for regional economic development. Reauthorization of federal surface transportation legislation is critical so that funds may be spent on high priority projects for the northeastern Oklahoma region in order to keep traffic and freight moving safely and efficiently through our region. The priority projects on the state’s list represent significant delayed maintenance/rehabilitation or congestion challenges. - Support Congressional appropriations for dredging and maintenance of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System and the lower Mississippi River. The McClellan-Kerr Navigation System provides unique access from businesses along that system to world markets.
All necessary Congressional appropriations must be made to dredge the lower Mississippi River using the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, as originally intended; to dredge the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System from 9 feet to its congressionally authorized 12 feet; and to cover the System’s approximate $95 million in critical maintenance backlog. The Port of Catoosa, Oklahoma’s outlet to our nation’s transportation waterways and international distribution, is a unique resource for economic development. Every effort should be made to ensure the Tulsa region, and the state of Oklahoma, can capitalize on this resource. - Secure public funding for hospital services, urgent care, outpatient and specialty care services, FQHCs (Federally Qualified Health Centers) and graduate medical education at Tulsa based medical schools and academic medical centers to ensure appropriate access to care for the underserved patient population which relies upon the Tulsa healthcare network for services.
This request addresses the continuum of services where Oklahoma ranks very low compared to other states. Oklahoma is short 3,000 physicians to meet the national average; Tulsa has only 3 FQHCs, where other cities of similar size might have double that number. When these services are not readily available for the uninsured, or are under-reimbursed (Medicaid), then hospitals have to provide the care in the very expensive emergency room setting or providers take the loss and then respond by cutting services to all patients, including those with insurance. - Attain approval of the Supplemental Hospital Offset Payment Program which provides new State funds to be matched with Federal funds to stabilize Medicaid enrollment, benefit and reimbursement efforts. Support for a H&CB provider fee class to allow Oklahoma to implement HB2828: Extend the home and community-based service class for an allowed provider fee to all 1915-c waiver programs.
The Supplemental Hospital Offset Payment Program (SHOPP) was last year’s top priority on the State OneVoice Legislative Agenda. Now the effort to implement it through a federal waiver lies in the federal bureaucracy process at the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. Two sessions ago, Oklahoma passed a similar fee to increase the state match for home and community-based services for the elderly and disabled, but the waiver request has been stalled. Every effort needs to be made to ensure passage of this year’s waiver request, and ensure the benefits of the SHOPP Act are returned to the state of Oklahoma. - Encourage members of Congress to restrict federal agency rulemaking authority so that rules potentially resulting in a strong detrimental economic impact to the business community are required to produce a proven environmental benefit in order to be passed. This includes, but is not limited to, regulatory initiatives related to the regulation of ozone levels, carbon and greenhouse gases and water. Support market-based solutions to unreasonable federal agency rulemaking. All federal agencies should be required to justify any harmful economic impact of the agency’s proposed rules by demonstrating the proven benefit to be gained by the rule. Support legislative and regulatory efforts which would require economic evaluations of existing and future regulatory actions by the US EPA and other federal agencies.
As businesses fight to recover from a declining economy and compete in a global marketplace, American employers are saddled with regulations which the US Small Business Administration estimates cost a staggering $1.75 trillion each year. Even worse, the impact of complying with these regulations is felt more greatly by small businesses – employers with less than 500 workers typically pay 35% more than larger businesses to comply with Federal regulations. With small businesses in Oklahoma making up over 97% of the market, the cost of complying with Federal regulations therefore consumes a sizeable portion of the budgets of Oklahoma’s job-creators – resulting in lost jobs and economic growth for our state.
With this in mind, the Tulsa region supports Congressional efforts to limit the rulemaking authority of Federal agencies through the adoption of legislation which would require a cost-benefit analysis be performed on previously passed and proposed regulations. By requiring a study of the impact of regulations on global economic competitiveness, energy prices, the supply of energy, and employment levels, policymakers would have the opportunity to determine whether the calculated benefits of regulations justify the costs to businesses, employers, and ultimately American citizens. - Support development of an intermodal freight transportation facility including port, airport, rail, and highway access.
Infrastructure must be developed that supports our inland port, the Tulsa Port of Catoosa, if the region is to compete in a global economy. We must link the Port’s international shipping and Class I railroad capability to the internal railway system, including establishment of a site for freight handling and storage, relocation and addition of rail lines to service both Tulsa International Airport as well as the Port. We must also add freight service points at the Airport to facilitate movement of freight to the intermodal site, and make changes to under-passes along the non-interstate highways for large freight shipments. - Reauthorize the ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act) this year; if reauthorization does not happen, school districts should be granted relief from the sanctions of No Child Left Behind.
The reauthorization of the ESEA is at least 4 years overdue. No Child Left Behind established very significant sanctions for school districts related to student achievement by all disaggregated groups of students – special education, English language learners, and disadvantaged, by both race and gender. The burden on school districts has been extreme, leading many districts to focus so heavily on testing that they have eliminated physical education, art and music. As an incentive to encourage Congress to accomplish reauthorization, the previous sanctions should be waived until the new Act is implemented. - Support federal measures to secure borders, establish reasonable and efficient visa policies and procedures, and comprehensive reform at the federal level that recognizes the need for essential workers so the U.S. can continue to attract the best and brightest talent from around the world.
The OneVoice coalition opposes illegal immigration. We support 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. Immigration policy should be set by the federal government and we support comprehensive reform at that level. Accordingly, immigration reform should not be tackled at the state level.
