Press Release

OKLAHOMA CITY – State Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore, on Monday hosted an interim study on the Catastrophic Health Emergency Powers Act (CHEPA), which was invoked by the governor in March at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study was held before the House Government Efficiency Committee.

“I am very pleased to have had so many participants in this Catastrophic Health Emergency Powers Act interim study,” West said. “There were some very tough discussions, yet everyone was very professional.  As legislators, we need to know what worked during this COVID-19 pandemic and especially what did not work so that we can address those shortcomings in the future for the citizens of Oklahoma.”

CHEPA was first approved by the Legislature and signed into law by then Gov. Brad Henry in 2003, but such an emergency had never before been declared. The act granted the governor’s office greater authority to manage the public health crisis, including using state resources and funds at his discretion, provided the Legislature was notified prior to the waiving of regulations or other action.

West said the purpose of his study was to determine if the act worked as intended or if it should be modified to better protect the public and taxpayer resources in the future.

Presenters at Monday’s study included some of the state's top health officials from the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH), including Interim Commissioner of Health Dr. Lance Frye who gave a timeline of the state’s response to the pandemic.

Frye explained how the department had to work around Oklahoma's Health Information and Patient Protection Act (HIPAA) laws, which he said are more restrictive than at the federal level. He said despite the restrictions the agency was able to share critical data with the local emergency entities that needed it and transparently share a tremendous amount of information with the public via the agency’s dashboard. He said Oklahoma shares more information than any other state, in his opinion.

OSDH Deputy General Counsel Nicole Nash suggested one change she would like to see made to the CHEPA. She said currently the agency interviews subjects of public health investigations to help them identify the source and spread of diseases but the law does not require patients or facilities to provide information back to OSDH. She would like to see this addressed.

Kary Cox, director at Washington County Emergency Management, gave a perspective from a local emergency manager level. He said the pandemic is the worst public health crisis he’s witnessed and said mismanagement and poor communication between state agencies and local managers made it worse in the beginning. Cox said plans and policies seemed to change weekly and were learned through media releases instead of coming directly from the governor’s office or the state agencies. This was frustrating at best, he said.

Cox also said obtaining personal protective equipment (PPE) from the state was very difficult. Better planning and standardizing management systems and tools between all affected entities would make any future crisis much easier to handle, he said.

He also said the state must invite all stakeholders to a part of the process, including county, city and tribal officials.

West said this was just the sort of discussion and feedback he was hoping for from his interim study. It will help guide him as he considers legislative changes to the current CHEPA.

Kevin West serves District 54 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, which includes part of Moore in Cleveland and Oklahoma counties.

Press Release

OKLAHOMA CITY – State Rep. Avery Frix, R-Muskogee, today hosted an interim study to examine the impact of last year’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for retirees in Oklahoma pension plans.

The study was held before the House Banking, Financial Services and Pensions Committee. Members heard from executive directors of many of the state’s pension plans, including those for teachers, firefighters, police and other law enforcement and public employees.

“After twelve years, last year we were finally able to grant our state pensioners a cost-of-living adjustment,” Frix said. “Today’s study allowed us to look at impact of the COLA on Oklahoman’s public pension systems as well as the opportunity to discuss the potential impacts of granting future COLAs.”

House Bill 3350, authored by Frix, gave a 4% COLA to retirees with more than five years of service to the state and a 2% COLA to those with two to five years of service beginning July 1, 2020.

Benefit managers gave the following effects of the COLA on each pension system:

• Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System (OFPRS): 1.1%;
• Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System (OLERS): 0.4%;
• Oklahoma Police Pension Retirement System (OPPRS): 1.7%; this system still remains above 100% funded;
• Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS): 2%; and
• Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System (OTRS): 1.1%

These percentage numbers are only the drop in funding as it relates to the COLA. Some systems have dropped more than this amount, but those percentages are not related to the COLA.

Plan directors discussed other impacts to the systems as well.

Frix said he’s heard from many state retirees that the COLA granted last year was appreciated, but they still face rising costs of health care, insurance premiums and other living expenses. He said those concerns, of course, need to be balanced against the solvency of the plans and their funded status. Last year’s COLA represented a fiscally responsible agreement that kept the state’s pension plans on healthy financial footing, while helping retirees, he said.

Several pension directors said that 90% of the COLA and other retirement benefits remain in Oklahoma, contributing to the Oklahoma economy.

Frix also asked each pension plan manager to speak about the effect future COLAs might have on the upward trajectory of their plans’ funded status.

The committee also heard a financial status report of the retirement systems, the average retiree benefit amount and a discussion of payment outliers, and the economic impact of the 4% COLA for retirees across Oklahoma.  

Joseph Fox, executive director of OPERS, discussed the differences between defined benefit and defined contribution plans.

Hank Kim, executive director of the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems, spoke on what parameters other states use to grant COLAs.

Chase Rankin, executive director of OFPRS, and Chancen Flick, government relations with the Oklahoma Public Employees Association, discussed concepts for granting future COLAs, with Rankin detailing the Consumer Price Index Urban catch and Flick discussing future COLA parameters.

Avery Frix serves District 13 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, which includes portions of McIntosh and Muskogee counties.