The cost of living in the United States is well below the cost of living in several other developed countries, including the Nordic nations as well as New Zealand and Australia. Still, living expenses in the U.S. are higher than in much of the world.

According to a recent study from Doxo, a bill paying platform, American households spend an average of $2,003 a month on the most common bills - or about 37% of what the typical household earns in a month.

The average monthly cost of these bills - which include rent, auto loans, utilities, car insurance, cable, internet, mobile phone, and health insurance - are far lower than average in Oklahoma. The typical Oklahoma household spends an average of $1,634 per month on bills, the sixth lowest among the 50 states.

States with higher than average monthly bills also tend to have higher than average incomes, while less expensive states tend to be lower income - and Oklahoma is no exception. The typical household in the state earns $53,840 a year, compared to the national median household income of $64,994, according to five-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey.

RankStateAvg. monthly household bills ($)Median household income ($)Avg. bill total as a share of income (%)1Hawaii2,91183,17342.02California2,64978,67240.43New Jersey2,61085,24536.74Massachusetts2,51184,38535.75Maryland2,45687,06333.96Connecticut2,38079,85535.87New York2,36171,11739.88Alaska2,33477,79036.09Washington2,27777,00635.510New Hampshire2,25677,92334.711Colorado2,25175,23135.912Virginia2,22976,39835.013Rhode Island2,17270,30537.114Oregon2,07065,66737.815Delaware2,05769,11035.716Illinois2,02968,42835.617Wyoming2,02265,30437.218Florida1,99357,70341.419Minnesota1,96773,38232.220Texas1,95663,82636.821Nevada1,94562,04337.622North Dakota1,93765,31535.623Arizona1,93661,52937.824Maine1,92259,48938.825Wisconsin1,91563,29336.326Utah1,91074,19730.927Vermont1,88363,47735.628Georgia1,87561,22436.829Louisiana1,87150,80044.230Pennsylvania1,85163,62734.931North Carolina1,82956,64238.732Iowa1,78461,83634.633South Carolina1,78354,86439.034Idaho1,77758,91536.235Michigan1,75459,23435.536Montana1,75156,53937.237Tennessee1,73454,83337.938Kansas1,72061,09133.839Ohio1,71758,11635.540Missouri1,70657,29035.741Nebraska1,69663,01532.342Alabama1,68852,03538.943New Mexico1,66351,24338.944South Dakota1,65459,89633.145Oklahoma1,63453,84036.446Kentucky1,62752,23837.447Indiana1,60758,23533.148Mississippi1,55946,51140.249Arkansas1,55249,47537.650West Virginia1,45248,03736.3

(The Center Square) - The founders of Epic Charter Schools and its former chief financial officer are facing a long list of charges, including embezzlement of state funds of up to $22 million.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation arrested school founders Ben Harris and David Chaney, and former CFO Josh Brock on Thursday, according to a news release from the agency. In addition to the charge of embezzlement of state funds, they are charged with racketeering, obtaining money by false pretense, conspiracy to commit a felony, violation of the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act, submitting false documents to the state and unlawful proceeds.

The initial investigation began in 2013 after the Oklahoma State Department of Education filed a complaint about dual enrollment. A state lawmaker raised questions about the misappropriation of state funds in 2019, according to OSBI.

The investigation revealed “a complicated criminal enterprise emerged that involved among other things: co-mingling of funds, excessive and unnecessary management fees, the use of Oklahoma tax dollars in California, political influence, concealment of profits, submission of false invoices, and the illegal use of employees,” OSBI said in its news release.

“This has been a very complex and arduous investigation with many roadblocks causing delays in getting to the truth,” said Ricky Adams, OSBI director, in a statement. “Harris, Chaney and Brock came up with a ‘get rich quick scheme’ that lined their pockets with tax dollars that were to be spent for the benefit of Oklahoma students. The OSBI criminal investigation unraveled the intricate scheme layer by layer, in spite of a lack of cooperation, legal obstacles and delay tactics.”

Harris, Chaney and Brock took taxpayer money intended for children’s education, said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister.

“It is unconscionable that the alleged deceitfulness of the school’s founders made them multimillionaires at the expense of taxpayers,” Hofmeister said in a statement. “This fraud was allowed to happen because of cracks in state law that still exist today. It is indisputable that they were able to exploit open and obvious weaknesses in the law for their own personal gain. This saga also highlights why there is no room for a for-profit management school in public education. Epic’s management turned the purpose of education on its head and incentivized cash over kids.”

The three men each have a $250,000 bond.

Earlier this week, the state education department cited Epic Charter Schools for fudging attendance records to receive thousands of dollars in state funds and for improperly handing out millions in bonuses. Those allegations are separate from the charges filed against Harris, Chaney and Brock, Hofmeister said.

The charter school system is addressing those issues, according to a statement from current Superintendent Bart Banfield.

(The Center Square) – A bipartisan group of attorneys general from 21 states are urging Congress to crack down on THC-infused edibles that look similar to popular snack items consumed by children.

Tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly shortened to THC, is the chemical contained in marijuana that produces the “high” feeling. Between Jan. 1 and May 31 this year, more than three-fourths of calls to the National Poison Control Center regarding single substance exposure from THC edibles were for patients 19 years old or younger, according to the FDA. That was out of 10,448 total calls.

The attorneys general are requesting that Congress allow trademark holders to hold people accountable if they produce THC products that use packaging and branding that mimics popular snack food brands.

“As states across the country, including my own, take steps to legalize and regulate cannabis, rules have been put in place to protect children from unwitting consumption,” Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, who co-led the coalition, said in a statement.

“However, there are those who attempt to work around these rules,” Ford added. “Copycat products that mimic snacks and candy trademarks can entice children, leading to situations that can threaten their health and safety. We urge Congress to pass legislation granting these trademark holders the legal tools needed to hold these counterfeiters accountable.”

In their letter, the attorneys general wrote that unlicensed people and businesses have produced products that have package designs similar to major snack brands, such as Doritos, Cheetos, Oreos, Sour Patch Kids, Nerds and others. According to the attorneys general, the products often contain higher levels of THC than allowed by state laws. They claimed that these products are intentionally designed to market these products to children.

The letter provided examples of when children inadvertently ate THC-infused products. On March 2, in Virginia, three Virginia parents took their children to the hospital after they ate THC-infused snacks that resembled goldfish at their childcare facility. On August 3 in Indiana, a toddler was hospitalized after eating a bag of THC-infused snacks that looked like Cheetos, which had more than 600 milligrams of THC.

“As THC infused edibles become commonplace, some distributors have started advertising their products to look like popular candy and snack items,” Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, who also co-led the effort, said in a statement.

“Their deceiving appearance and packaging can confuse young children who come across them and has led to an increase in accidental consumption, putting their health at risk,” Miyares added. “To address this growing issue, I’m urging Congress, with a bipartisan coalition, for a comprehensive legislative solution.”

The letter noted that the attorneys general are not all in agreement on the best regulations for THC products, but that they do agree that “copycat” THC edibles are a risk to children.

JM Pedini, the Virginia director for NORML, a group that supports the legalization of recreational marijuana, agreed with the crux of the letter.

“Unregulated cannabis products packaged to look like famous brands pose not only a substantial risk to children, but to adults as well," Pedini told The Center Square.

"Consumers deserve to know what they’re purchasing, and far too often what’s on the label is not what’s in the package,” Pedini added "We are proud to have assisted Virginia in taking direct policy action to prohibit lookalike packaging and to provide consumers harmed by such deceptive products recourse through the Attorney General’s Office of Consumer Protections."

Attorneys general from Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Washington signed onto the letter.

(The Center Square) – Attorneys general from 26 states are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower-court decision upholding a California law banning the raising or importing pork, veal or eggs if the animals are confined.

The Supreme Court announced on March 28 that it would hear the pork industry’s challenge to California’s Proposition 12, a law restricting confinement practices in animal agriculture. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on Oct. 11.

Prop. 12 was approved by 63% of California voters in 2018. The law established minimum space requirements based on square feet for calves raised for veal, breeding pigs and egg-laying hens. It banned the sale of products from those animals if they were “confined in a cruel manner,” defined as in areas below minimum square-feet requirements.

The case, National Pork Producers Council v. Karen Ross, the Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, focuses on the regulation of animal products outside of California by prohibiting the in-state sale of products traceable to the animal being confined in a “cruel manner.” The Pork Producers and others argue the law violates the Interstate Commerce Clause and general constitutional restrictions against “extraterritorial regulation.”

The brief filed by the attorneys general states California consumes 13% of the nation’s pork and imports 99.87% of pork consumed. The attorneys general argue the “entire impact of Proposition 12 will be visited on out-of-state producers that, though they have no vote in California, must remodel their farms (or reduce their herds) to comply with the law.”

“Under no circumstances should the state of California be allowed to dictate to Missouri farmers and ranchers how they can raise and confine breeding pigs, egg-laying hens, and veal calves,” Missouri Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt said in a statement. “Further, California is attempting to impose their will on Missouri farmers and ranchers by threatening to deny entry into the California market if those farmers and ranchers don’t comply with their pointless regulations. Missouri’s farmers and ranchers have been tending to their land and livestock for generations, they don’t need Californian politicians telling them how to do their jobs.”

Of the 19 briefs filed with the Supreme Court on the case last week, all urged the court to reverse the lower court’s decision, with the exception of two neutral parties providing economic information.

A brief filed to persuade the Supreme Court not to hear the case was filed last year by The Humane Society of the United States, Animal Legal Defense Fund, Animal Equality, The Humane League, Farm Sanctuary, Compassion in World Farming USA, and Animal Outlook. They stated the Pork Producers’ argument uses a “dormant Commerce Clause” to stop in-state sales of certain pork products from “animals confined in cruel and unsanitary conditions that threaten the health of California consumers. … Because that prohibition applies only to sales inside California, moreover, producers outside California are free to confine animals however they choose for products sold outside the state.”

States represented by the attorneys general are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

(The Center Square) – Attorneys general representing 14 states have sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that criticizes its proposed plan to regulate downwind emissions, arguing it will be a “death knell for certain industries” unable to adjust to the new guidelines.

In the 17-page letter, the AGs call the Biden Administration’s plan “capricious” and note the agency is changing compliance standards that states have used for non-environmental reasons. Besides the strict standards, they also say the proposed EPA guidelines supplant state-level controls over air quality standards,

The proposed regulations are set to impose more rigid standards on internal combustion engines used in natural gas pipelines, industrial cement kilns, boilers and furnaces for iron and steel mills and furnaces for glass manufacturers. It also would place restrictions on “high-emitting equipment and large boilers” used for chemicals, petroleum, coal and paper.

In the proposed rule the EPA published in April, the agency said the “earliest possible compliance date” for those industries would be 2026. The attorneys general say the restrictions come when the air quality in the U.S. far exceeds that of other countries.

“This will severely impact the manufacturing industry’s ability to compete and will drive away valuable American manufacturing jobs to countries whose air pollution track records fall far short of the United States,” the letter states.

If the new EPA standards are approved, officials in Kentucky estimate that 18 gigawatts of coal-fired power generation and four gigawatts of gas and oil power generation would need to be shut down by 2030 to comply with those standards.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said in a statement the policy would cause utility bills to go up and may lead to more blackouts.

“These federal policies are being pushed at a time when Kentuckians are already experiencing record-high inflation and gas prices above five dollars per gallon,” Cameron said. “Once again, the president is elevating the green priorities of a few at the expense of many, with potentially devastating consequences for American families, businesses and our nation’s power grid.”

Besides Cameron, the letter was signed by attorney generals representing Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

(The Center Square) — The attorneys general of 19 states want the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate what they say is growing violence targeting pro-life groups nationwide.

Last month, Politico published a leaked draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion, apparently revealing the nation’s highest court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, which established abortion as a constitutional right, and Casey v. Planned Parenthood. The leaked opinion, purportedly penned by Justice Samuel Alito, comes in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a challenge to Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban.

Since then, groups have protested nationwide, including outside the homes of Supreme Court justices. Additionally, authorities arrested a California man who they say planned to murder Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and abortion advocates have firebombed or vandalized at least two dozen pregnancy centers nationwide.

"Inaction is intolerable in our nation of laws, and it violates your oath of office," the attorneys general wrote. "Yet, in recent weeks, you have continued to allow illegal actions seemingly because they advance (in the minds of some) the pro-abortion cause."

The letter added: "Intentional or not, budding domestic terrorists have apparently received the message: the Department of Justice is going easy on those who use violence in furtherance of favored viewpoints."

According to officials, the attacks began about a month ago, and the FBI said it planned to investigate last week.

"President [Joe] Biden’s Department of Justice yet again has its priorities absolutely backward," Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said in an announcement.

"They did not hesitate to investigate parents who spoke out at school board meetings but are now dragging their feet to address the violent crimes committed against pro-life organizations," Carr added. "Public safety should not be a partisan issue, and it is past time for the U.S. Attorney General to take strong, uniform and decisive action to hold accountable those who are responsible for these attacks."

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sent the letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. In addition to Georgia and Ohio, attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia co-signed the letter.

(The Center Square) - Epic Charter Schools is accused of fudging attendance records to receive thousands of dollars in state funds and of improperly handing out millions in bonuses, according to an investigation by the Oklahoma State Department of Education released Tuesday.

The report said the charter school system paid $8.6 million in bonuses to administration staff in June 2021 that were never approved by Community Strategies, the board that oversees the schools.

"These bonus payments were never approved by Community Strategies, exceeded employment agreements by at least $800,000 and resulted in one employee receiving 600% (six times) more than the amount in her employment contract despite being employed for only 35% of the school year," the report said.

The charter school system is addressing the issues raised, according to a statement from Superintendent Bart Banfield. Epic has reversed the "pay for performance" bonus system for administrators and revised employee contracts for fiscal year 2022, according to a statement.

School officials are also accused of inflating attendance records by marking students absent for 14 days, present for one and then repeating the same pattern, according to the report. State law requires virtual charter students that do not complete instructional activity in a 15-day period to be dropped from the school. Once a student is withdrawn, the funding is withdrawn as well.

"With the vast number of students with the 14-1-14 pattern, it appears Epic may have intentionally designed the algorithm in such a way that a large number of students were never absent on the 15th day, were not dropped from enrollment and Epic continued to receive funds for these students," according to the OSDE report.

The investigation shows that the school collected $780,000 in state money based on the attendance data.

"In the spring of 2021, I called for a full audit of our enrollment and truancy policies," Banfield said. "This resulted in additional training for all administrators and teachers. However, we have the same concerns as the OSDE regarding the algorithm and how it may be impacting our student enrollment report. This will take additional in-depth investigations by programmers who can understand the impact this software has on the data certified by Epic and shared with the OSDE."

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister will make a recommendation to the State Board of Education that the school's virtual charter be placed on hold, according to a news release.

The accusations are not related to earlier allegations about the misuse of state funds for administrative purposes. The state caps the amount for administration at 5%, but the owners of a management company overseeing the schools received a 10% fee, according to previous reports. A 2020 audit showed Epic owed the state millions for exceeding the administrative cap, according to an audit by the Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector.

OSDE withheld $9.1 million from the school for exceeding the cap, according to the reports.

"It is clear that serious challenges remain," Hofmeister said in the news release. "The OSDE investigative report starkly illustrates that Community Strategies and Epic must focus on developing and improving processes and procedures that are efficient, transparent and follow the letter of the law."

Banfield said he is aware Epic still has challenges.

"We have a new board of education and new executive leadership team committed to uncovering all and any issues and securing compliance with the State of Education," he said.

(The Center Square) – Oklahoma will receive over $3.8 million from a settlement with a pharmaceutical company accused of fraud for underpaying Medicaid drug rebates, the attorney general’s office said Tuesday.

Mallinckrodt ARD, LLC, formerly Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc., will pay over $233 million over seven years as part of the settlement with 50 states, plus Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the federal government.

The settlement stems from allegations that the company knowingly underpaid Medicaid rebates for its drug H.P. Acthar Gel (Acthar) from 2013 to 2020.

Under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, the company was supposed to pay the Medicaid program the difference between the drug’s current price and what the price would be if it had risen at the rate of inflation since 1990, which is when the drug first came to market, whichever was later.

The government said Mallinckrodt began paying rebates for Acthar in 2013 as if it was a new drug recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), even though the drug first hit the market as far back as 1952. The government said Acthar’s price had already risen over $28,000 per vial by 2013, which would have made the Medicaid rebate payments significantly more than what the company paid between 2013 and 2020.

Under the settlement agreement, Mallinckrodt admitted the drug was not new as of 2013.

Oklahoma is set to receive over $3.8 million in restitution, according to the attorney general’s office.

The settlement came about after a whistleblower filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts with the federal government, the attorney general’s office said.

“My office will always investigate those who defraud our state’s healthcare and Medicaid system,” said Attorney General John O’Connor. “I applaud our Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for always pursuing those who attempt to jeopardize the health and well-being of Oklahomans.”

Mallinckrodt is a U.S. subsidiary of an Irish pharmaceutical company that sells and markets pharmaceutical products throughout the nation. Its U.S. headquarters is in New Jersey.

Final approval for the settlement was received by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in March.

The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office Medicaid Fraud Control Unit receives 75% of its funding for federal fiscal year 2022 from a grant totaling over $3.4 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the attorney general’s office said. The other 25% of its budget is funded by the State of Oklahoma, totaling $856,235.

(The Center Square) - The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority says it expects its budget request to increase for fiscal year 2023 as it transitions to becoming an independent agency by November.

Previously, OMMA has operated as a part of the Oklahoma Department of Health.

Executive Director Adria Berry said Monday during the Medical Marijuana Advisory Council meeting the agency will increase its budget request for the upcoming fiscal year but expects it to “level out in subsequent years.”

The agency has brought in more than $24 million in excise tax revenue so far this year. State and local taxes on the medical marijuana industry brought an additional $31 million this year, according to Berry.

The agency was authorized to spend $42.1 million during fiscal year 2022, which ends on June 30. OMMA has spent $27.3 million of that money so far, said Berry. However, she said that number does not reflect all the agency’s expenses, Berry said. Money that remains unspent by OMMA goes back into the revolving fund.

The move to make OMMA distinct from the state health department is part of Senate Bill 1543, which was signed by the governor in May. The bill calls for creating OMMA as a “separate and distinct agency” and directs the transfer of records, property, funds, and other assets.

The bill also calls for the governor to appoint an executive director for OMMA.

SB 1543 struck all language requiring the Medical Marijuana Advisory Council, which has served to review safety laws and rules for OMMA and provided stakeholder input. OMMA will have the authority to “investigate violations of criminal laws regarding medical marijuana, seize illegal held product, refer evidence, reports, or charges to appropriate law enforcement, authorities, and aid enforcement authorities in prosecutions of violations of the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana and Patient Protection Act,” according to the bill’s summary.

OMMA Deputy Director Barrett Brown told the council Monday that it will be disbanded on Nov. 1, which is when OMMA officially becomes an independent agency.

Council member Blake Cantrell said his understanding of the bill was the requirement for the council was removed but did not remove the council itself.

“Then it is OMMA’s decision to disband this?” asked Cantrell. “And if so, why? And what’s the intent moving forward with soliciting industry input?”

Brown answered they are in the process of coming up with what the agency’s plan will be for stakeholder engagement.

“We definitely value and need input from industry and patients,” Berry said.

(The Center Square) - A report from the Oklahoma Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency shows most state prisons are operating with just 40 to 45% of the staffing needed.

The 59-page operational assessment of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections also questioned how the department used savings from a reduced number of inmates.

The report credits DOC with finding ways to work around the staffing shortages but said a plan is needed.

“For example, only prisoners over the age of 37 are housed in certain critically understaffed facilities because DOC has learned that this population is statistically less likely to engage in violent behavior,” the report said. “The department also places well-behaved medium security inmates in the Joseph Harp Correctional Center. This facility has access to leather-working and furniture-making shops, which pay significantly more than the average DOC job. Since general population inmates must exhibit good behavior to get into the facility, there are fewer problems, allowing staff to devote more of their attention to the medical and mental health units housed in the same facility.”

The report also suggests lowering the minimum age for correctional officers to 18. But, the impact of this change would be delayed due to DOC’s greatest need being experienced correctional officers, not entry-level, LOFT said in the report.

Prisons are not a popular place to work and the department has lost staff, said Scott Crow, DOC director, at a meeting of the LOFT committee on Thursday.

“There have been periods of time that, and I believe we are in still one of those periods, where I would consider it critical,” Crow said. “We have a facility with 2,000 inmates and you have 25 to 30 correctional officers that report for duty on any particular day. That creates a serious situation.”

The department is looking into solutions to the staffing problem, Crow said. The state recently raised the starting salary for correctional officers to $20.40 an hour.

The department also created a staffing analysis unit that assesses the need, and recruitment efforts are underway, according to Crow.

The report also questioned the department’s budgeting process in light of a reduced number of inmates.

“Between FY 20 and FY 21, DOC’s total operating costs increased by approximately 3.5% while the inmate population declined nearly 12 percent, using FY19 as a baseline”, the report said.

Department officials said the savings are being used in-house.

“We haven’t prepared a budget request for additional funding, which we had typically been requesting the appropriations committee to fund vehicles, medical equipment, infrastructure,” said Ashlee Clemmons, the department’s chief financial officer. “We’ve been doing that independent of requesting any additional funding so don’t think that it is we haven’t recognized the savings. We just reinvested in ourselves without asking for additional funding.”

The DOC needs to evaluate how the inmate population will look in the future and what impact that will have on the budget, said Rep. Meloyde Blancett, D-Tulsa, in a news release. Oklahoma voters approved a ballot question in 2106 that made some non-violent drug and property offenses a misdemeanor.

“The inmate population of tomorrow consequently will consist of a greater percentage of violent offenders than currently, as well as an overall decrease in population,” Blancett said. “These changes require different facility, programming and staffing needs, which must be reflected in what we approve for appropriations.”