Monday, May 2 to Thursday, May 5, 2011

Monday, May 2

• The Senate approved the following measures on Monday:

-SR 23 by Sen. Andrew Rice, expresses appreciation to all whose efforts resulted in defeat of Osama bin Laden and all who strive for justice and peace.

-SB 346 by Sen. Clark Jolley, ends social promotion in public schools.

-SB 180 by Sen. Susan Paddack, allows the Department of Corrections to contract with physicians and other providers of inpatient and outpatient health care services.

-SB 206 by Sen. John Ford, creates a P-20 Council Task Force.

-SB 214 by Sen. Sean Burrage, requires any person disqualified as a member of a county election board or absentee voting board due to candidacy or employment by a candidate to resign the office no later than 10 days after the date on which candidacy was filed.

-SB 256 by Sen. John Ford, allows any charter school which chooses to lease property to be eligible to receive current government lease rates.

-SB 445 by Sen. John Ford, modifies language related to charter schools, clarifying that students may be transferred to charter schools on an emergency basis.

-SB 527 by Sen. Brian Crain, modifies language related to claims by creditors, allowing claims to be brought in the county in which the claim arose.

-SB 943 by Sen. Patrick Anderson, modifies language relating to procedures for judicial review and transmission of agency orders to the reviewing court.

• Senate committees took no action on bills Monday.

• The House met Monday approving the following measures:

-HB 1456 by Rep. Lee Denney, directs the State Board of Education to prepare annual reports of the results of the Oklahoma School Testing Program that describe student achievement in the state.

-HB 1051 by Rep. Mike Sanders, requires all county offices and departments to keep records and submit copies to the county clerk.

-HB 1267 by Rep. Earl Sears, remands the Oklahoma Race to the Top Commission as the Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Commission.

-HB 1347 by Rep. Tom Newell, creates the Wildlife Bail Procedure Act.

-HB 1648 by Rep. Tom Newell, removes language that allows a member of the Teachers’ Retirement System who is absent from teaching service because of an election or appointment as a local, state or national education officer to be allowed to retain his or her membership in the system upon payment of a contribution.

-HB 2033 by Rep. Daniel Sullivan, modifies language related to the Standards for Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Act.

• House committees took no action on Monday

Tuesday, May 3

• The Senate approved the following bills on Tuesday:

-HB 1527 by Rep. Kris Steele, creates the Oklahoma Congressional Redistricting Act of 2011.

-HB 2145 by Rep. Kris Steele, creates the State House of Representatives Redistricting Act of 2011.

-SB 124 by Sen. Ron Justice, prohibits eminent domain from being used for the siting or building of wind turbines on private property.

-SB 324 by Sen. Bill Brown, removes language regarding the operation of motorized watercraft by children under age 12, and lowers the legal blood alcohol concentration for boating under the influence from .10 to .08.

-SB 412 by Sen. Bill Brown, requires any entity that provides health insurance to accept the Health Care Authority right of recovery and the assignment of rights and to not charge the authority or any of its authorized agents any fees for the processing of claims or eligibility requests.

-SB 708 by Sen. Clark Jolley, sets forth the requirements for all municipal and county development fees that are established and collected to fund public infrastructure system improvements.

• Senate committees approved no measures on Tuesday.

• The House convened Tuesday, approving the following bills:

-HB 2132 by Rep. Kris Steele, removes cost of living adjustments from the definition of non-fiscal retirement bill under the Oklahoma Pension Legislation Actuarial Analysis Act.

-HB 1010 by Rep. Randy McDaniel, modifies language related to members of the Uniform Retirement System for Justices and Judges.

-HB 1995 by Rep. Daniel Sullivan, requires any physician licensed to practice in Oklahoma maintain malpractice liability insurance coverage with available limits of at least $1 million.

-HB 2023 by Rep. Daniel Sullivan, directs the actual amount paid for doctor, hospital, ambulance service, drug and similar bills incurred in treatment to be the amount admissible at trial in any civil case involving personal injury, not the amounts billed for expenses incurred in treatment.

-HB 1212 by Rep. Dan Kirby, requires those seeking a license from the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission to include a certified copy of lab results for every participant verifying that they are not infected with the HIV virus.

-HB 1282 by Rep. David Dank, clarifies language related to the definition of long-term care administrator.

-HB 1520 by Rep. Gus Blackwell, allows a court to dismiss charges without payment of court costs for violation of the Compulsory Insurance Law.

-HB 1533 by Rep. Gus Blackwell, requires a state agency to make payroll deductions upon request of a state employee for membership dues utilized for benefits, goods or services provided by the Oklahoma Public Employees Association to the organization’s membership or any other statewide association limited to state employee membership with a minimum membership of 1,500 dues-paying members.

-HB 1549 by Rep. Sally Kern, allows individuals to bring a civil action against the producer, promoter or intentional possessor of child pornography if a criminal offense resulted in a conviction and any portion of the offense was used in the production of child pornography when the person caused personal or psychological injury as a result.

-HB 1615 by Rep. Gary Banz, moves from the last Tuesday in July to the last Tuesday in June the date of the primary election in even-numbered years for Oklahoma offices.

-HB 1821 by Rep. John Trebilcock, creates the Exploration Rights Act of 2011.

• House committees met Tuesday and approved the following measures:

Wednesday, May 4

• The Senate approved the following measures on Wednesday:

-SB 954 by Sen. Jonathan Nichols, sets the fee for requesting a copy of a collision report with the Department of Public Safety at $15.

-SB 953 by Sen. Jonathan Nichols, requires a driver’s license reinstatement fee of $50 beginning on July 1, 2013.

-SB 19 by Sen. Roger Ballenger, requires operators of solid waste landfills to ensure that the exterior slopes are maintained at all times to be no steeper than four horizontal to one vertical, unless otherwise approved by the Department of Environmental Quality.

-SB 82 by Sen. Gary Stanislawski, designates the interchange of Interstate 44 crossing Harvard Avenue in Tulsa County as Jerry Lasker Memorial Exchange.

-SB 536 by Sen. Gary Stanislawski, creates a task force on creating administrative efficiencies.

-SB 701 by Sen. Cliff Aldridge, states that any person who has been a patient of a doctor, hospital or other medical institution is entitled, upon request, to a pathology slide.

-SB 704 by Sen. Rob Johnson, allows an action to be maintained as a class action if the complaint in the class action contains factual allegations sufficient to demonstrate a plausible claim for relief.

-SB 780 by Sen. Cliff Aldridge, creates the Oklahoma Home Service Contract Act.

-SB 928 by Sen. Dan Newberry, requires an applicant for a roofing contractor registration certificate to pay a fee of $75.

• Senate committees took no action Wednesday.

• The House met Wednesday, approving the following legislation:

-HB 1034 by Rep. Jason Murphey, modifies language related to the Oklahoma Central Purchasing Act.

-HB 1355 by Rep. Al McAffrey, creates the Deceased Veterans Dignity Act.

-HB 1556 by Rep. Fred Jordan, requires any person subject to the Uniform State Code of Military Justice who willfully and unlawfully alters, conceals, destroys or attempts to destroy a certain public record and whose conduct was to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces to be punished as a court martial may direct.

-HB 1575 by Rep. Scott Martin, defines “gray water” to mean untreated waste water that has not come in contact with toilet waste and includes wastewater from bathtubs, showers, washbasins, clothes washing machines and laundry tubs and untreated municipal wastewater limited to water captured from municipal splash pads and water used by fire departments for cleaning equipment and vehicles.

-HB 1586 by Rep. Todd Thomsen, modifies the Uniform Athlete Agents Act.

-HB 1598 by Rep. Steve Martin, establishes that a real estate licensee has no duty to independently investigate or measure the dimension, size or square footage of any real estate or the improvements located on the real estate.

-HB 1665 by Rep. Leslie Osborn, prohibits state agencies from allocating 1.5 percent of their budgets to fund the Oklahoma Art in Public Places Act during fiscal years 2012, 2013 and 2014.

-HB 1692 by Rep. Todd Russ, states legislative intent that boards of county commissioners and municipal governing bodies should be given flexibility in deciding whether to establish a separate floodplain board.

-HB 1957 by Rep. Skye McNiel, requires any new swine feeding operation established after Nov. 1, 2011, with more than 100 animal units to be licensed under the Oklahoma Swine Feeding Operations Act.

-HB 1970 by Rep. Randy Grau, requires any physician giving or prescribing mifepristone or any abortion-inducing drug to first examine the woman and document the gestational age and intrauterine location of the pregnancy in the woman’s medical chart.

-HB 2049 by Rep. Lewis Moore, designates State Highway 66 as the Historic Route 66 Bike Trail.

• House conference committees approved the following measures on Wednesday:

-HB 1918 by Rep. Ann Coody, requires the Oklahoma Commission for Teacher Preparation to develop and administer mathematics professional development programs to be provided to any teacher who became licensed or certified to teach in elementary education or early childhood education prior to July 1, 2001, and is serving as a teacher in public school in this state in kindergarten through third grade, subject to the availability of funds.

-HB 1854 by Rep. Jabar Shumate, states legislative intent that the State Regents for Higher Education adopt a policy for each institution within the state system of higher education that has a teacher education program that will require equal access for statewide professional educators’ associations to students enrolled in the program.

-HB 1489 by Rep. David Brumbaugh, modifies the Taxpayer Transparency Act, requiring the Office of State Finance’s revenue website include a section specific to data on road funding.

Thursday, May 5

• The Senate met Thursday, approving the following measures:

-SB 408 by Sen. Susan Paddack, mandates that any person seeking reinstatement of police or peace officer certification shall be required to pay a reinstatement fee of $150.

-SB 216 by Sen. Susan Paddack, creates a Task Force on the Collection, Distribution, and Enforcement of Municipal Sales Tax.

-SB 969 by Sen. Dan Newberry, creates the Oklahoma Equal Opportunity Education Scholarship Act.

-SB 919 by Sen. Anthony Sykes, adds specific substances to the list of Schedule I-V narcotics.

-SB 684 by Sen. Anthony Sykes, amends the Oklahoma Real Estate License code.

-SB 567 by Sen. Patrick Anderson, adds requirements and course training certifications for the Council of Law Enforcement Education and Training for members of law enforcement.

-SB 494 by Sen. Don Barrington, establishes new sections pertaining to trespassing.

-SB 10 by Sen. Cliff Aldridge, eliminates the requirement that county treasurers complete additional training or continuing education if they also serve as school district treasurers.

-SB 815 by Sen. Patrick Anderson, lists documentation requirements for parties to provide during dissolution of marriage proceedings.

-SB 844 by Sen. Patrick Anderson, enacts a self-funded licensing program for outdoor display fireworks and pyrotechnic exhibitors.

Other News

• Osama bin Laden, the face of global terrorism and architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, was killed in a firefight with elite American forces Monday, then quickly buried at sea in a stunning finale to a furtive decade on the run.

• The State Treasurer’s office on Tuesday released its economic report for April showing growth over the prior year in spite of rising gasoline and diesel fuel prices. During April, receipts to the State Treasury totaled $1.074 billion. That is an increase of $94.23 million or 9.6 percent over April of last year. In the past 12 months, gross collections were $9.992 billion, an increase of $579 million or 6.2 percent over the previous 12 months.

• Tuesday was Breast Cancer Awareness Day at the State Capitol. The free event helps raise awareness about the disease and it’s affects on the state’s population as well as provide educational tools to victims and their families. According the American Cancer Association, one in seven women will get breast cancer in their lifetime.

• Wednesday was Lupus Awareness Day at the Capitol. May is National Lupus Awareness Month. It is a disease of the connective tissue where the body’s immune system begins to attack the organs and tissues that make up the body. At least 1.5 million Americans suffer from some form of Lupus.

• Thursday was the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Day to help raise awareness of heart disease and stroke. More women die of heart disease, stroke, and all other cardiovascular disease than the next five leading causes of death combined, including all cancers. In 2007, Oklahoma had the 4th highest death rate from cardiovascular disease in the country.