Monday, April 27 to Thursday, Apr. 30, 2009

• The Senate on Monday rejected House amendments to 28 bills and resolutions before adjournment.

• Senate committees took no action on Monday.

• The House on Monday rejected amendments to a number of measures before adjournment.

• House committees took no action on Monday.

Tuesday, April 28

• The Senate did not vote on any legislation Tuesday, but did reject house amendments to a number of bills before adjournment.

• Senate committees took no action on Tuesday.

• The House met Tuesday, rejecting Senate amendments to 24 measures before adjournment.

• House committees took no action on Tuesday.

Wednesday, April 29

• The Senate rejected House amendments to a number of bills after approving the following bills on Wednesday:

-SB 834 by Sen. John Ford, creates the School District Empowerment Program to be administered by the State Department of Education.

-HB 1934 by Rep. Mike Jackson, requires all amusement rides to be under the control of a competent ride operator or competent ride operators at all times when the ride is in operation.

-SB 290 by Sen. Kenneth Corn, directs school districts to provide academic credit on a student’s transcript for courses that are correlated to concurrently enrolled courses and credit granted by a higher education institution.

-SB 292 by Sen. Patrick Anderson, repeals language related to the schedule of benefits for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families for families with children born during the period in which the family is eligible for TANF or a temporary period during which the family is ineligible for TANF.

-SB 335 by Sen. Susan Paddack, modifies the duties of the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training.

-SB 572 by Sen. Brian Crain, states that county boards of health cannot adopt regulations that are more stringent than state law.

-SB 602 by Sen. Brian Bingman, prohibits the Oklahoma Real Estate Commission from issuing a license to any individual who has been convicted of certain felony crimes.

-SB 934 by Sen. Patrick Anderson, exempts atypical antipsychotics and typical antipsychotics from any preferred drug list in the drug utilization review of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority.

• Senate Committees took no action on Wednesday.

• The House approved the following measures on Wednesday:

-HB 2026 by Rep. Kris Steele, creates the Health Care for Oklahomans Act, directing the Oklahoma Health Care Authority to establish the Health Care for the Uninsured Board to review and establish a system of counseling for individuals who are without health insurance and are not on Medicaid.

• House Committees took no action on Wednesday.

Thursday, April 30

• The Senate approved the following measures on Thursday:

-SB 1146 by Sen. Clark Jolley, states that manufacturers shall report to the Oklahoma Tax Commission each month on all beverage sales.

-SB 478 by Sen. Clark Jolley, clarifies requirements for the record keeping of child-related injuries due to neglect by child care providers.

-SB 337 by Sen. Tom Adelson, directs the sale of the Laura Dester Shelter by DHS to be consistent with the Pearl District neighborhood revitalization plan.

-SB 384 by Sen. Jay Paul Gumm, clarifies language pertaining to state employees and payroll deduction.

-SB 645 by Sen. Jay Paul Gumm, relates to the Home Inspection Licensing Act by modifying certain exemptions and qualifications for licensure.

-SB 614 by Sen. Patrick Anderson, relates to criminal procedure, eliminating order for the Department of Corrections to supervised certain offenders in a deferred sentence.

-SB 661 by Sen. Susan Paddack, directs the Commissioner of Health to develop grant programs for private, nonprofit and public entities for the purpose of administering the National Hospital Preparedness Program.

-SB 1138 by Sen. Mary Easley, creates vehicle-related child endangerment offenses and the crime of child endangerment by DUI.

-SB 604 by Sen. Gary Stanislawski, creates a task force on internet-based instruction.

-SB 622 by Sen. Glenn Coffee, creates the “Oklahoma Uniform Anatomical Gift Act”.

-SB 679 by Sen. David Myers, re-creates the Oklahoma Geologic Storage of Carbon Dioxide Task Force.

Other News

• Gov. Brad Henry this week declared a state of emergency for nine Oklahoma counties that have been battered by flooding, tornadoes and persistent storms during recent weeks. Alfalfa, Dewey, Ellis, Garfield, Grant, Kay, Major, Woods and Woodward County were included in the declaration.

• A nearly worldwide outbreak of swine flu has prompted Oklahoma health officials to send samples to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine if the virus may be present in the state. There have been no confirmed cases of swine flu in Oklahoma.