Audio

A bill to encourage people to enter physician assistant education programs and to practice in Oklahoma's rural and medically underserved areas won unanimous approval in the State Senate today.

House Bill 1411 establishes the Physician Assistant Scholarship Program, which will be supported through a revolving fund created for and administered by the Physician Manpower Training Commission. The measure was authored by Rep. Doug Cox, R-Grove, and Sen. Susan Paddack, D-Ada.
read more.

A measure supported by the National Rifle Association that strengthens the rights of gun owners and protects employers from lawsuits has cleared another legislative hurdle according to Senate author of the measure, Senator Jay Paul Gumm. Gumm, (D-Durant) said House Bill 1243 passed off the Senate Floor with a bi-partisan majority vote.

The State Senate has approved a bill to give more protection to victims of rape and domestic violence. House Bill 1698, the “Victims of Violent Crimes Privacy Act,” would stop court clerks and district attorneys from posting information about those victims on the Internet. The bill is authored by Rep. Rebecca Hamilton, D-OKC and Sen. Frank Shurden, D-Henryetta.
read more.

A bill to make sure Oklahoma kids aren’t filling up on junk food while at school has been signed into law. Senate Bill 265, signed by Gov. Brad Henry on Thursday, will prohibit elementary schools, junior high or middle schools from allowing “low-nutritional” foods except for special occasions such as class parties.
High schools would be required to provide healthy food options. The measure also directs school districts to provide incentives to encourage healthy food choices for high school students such as reduced prices. read more.

A joint House/Senate committee is the next stop for a bill to make sure the law against threatening, harassing or obscene phone calls is extended to include cell phones, text messaging, email and other forms of telecommunications. Sen. Ted Fisher, D-Sapulpa, is Senate author of House Bill 1804 which was approved unanimously Tuesday afternoon. The measure had previously won unanimous approval by the House as well.
read more.

A measure to ensure that the state’s Federally Qualified Health Centers adhere to the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act was signed into law by Governor Brad Henry Tuesday.

Senate Bill 708, authored by Senator Jim Wilson, D-Tahlequah, was written as a safeguard against Federally Qualified Health Centers acting outside the bylaws that govern them as well as state and federal laws.

Oklahoma currently has seven Federally Qualified Health Centers. Four new centers were authorized earlier this week and that number is expected to increase to thirty in the future.
read more.

A bill to require an alphanumeric sequence rather than computer-generated numbers for Oklahoma driver licenses or identification cards has been signed by Gov. Brad Henry. Sen. Clark Jolley is principal author of the measure.

“We’ve approved legislation in recent years to help deal with the problem of criminal identity theft. This measure addresses the accidental problems that may occur when a person or business confuses a driver’s license number and social security number,” explained Jolley, R-Edmond
read more.

The State Senate approved a resolution Monday honoring President Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th President of the United States and one of America's favorite sons.

House Joint Resolution 1001 was authored by Rep. Thad Balkman (R-Norman) and Senator Owen Laughlin (R-Woodward), and then coauthored by all the Republican members from both the House of Representatives and Senate. It designates February 6th of each year as "President Ronald Reagan Day" in Oklahoma to commemorate the anniversary of the birth of the 40th President of the United States of America.
read more.