The Senate unanimously approved legislation Tuesday to help get more teachers into Oklahoma classrooms.  Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, is the author of Senate Bill 1125 directing the State Board of Education to issue a teaching certificate to anyone who holds a valid out-of-state teaching certificate, with no other requirements except a criminal history record check.

On the heels of Oklahoma’s electronic prescription law that went into effect on Jan. 1, Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, presented Senate Bill 1278 for committee consideration, which would exempt outpatient hospice care facilities from the e-prescription requirement.

The committee passed the measure 10-0 with bipartisan support on Monday.

Sen. Rob Standridge, R-Norman, passed three measures out of the Public Safety Committee Monday that aim to tighten sentences for domestic violence offenders, increase accountability for their actions and further protect their victims.

Senate Bill 1103 cracks down on offenders of assault and battery with intent to cause great bodily harm by strangulation or attempted strangulation. According to the Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention, strangulation victims are 750 percent more likely to be killed than victims who have never been strangled.

The Senate Public Safety Committee has passed Senate Bill 1290, also known as the Medical Care Provider Protection Act, which takes steps to address workplace violence in the health care arena.

Authored by Sen. Darrell Weaver, R-Moore, SB 1290 tackles health care workplace violence through four approaches:

The Oklahoma House of Representatives passed House Bill 1182 Thursday, legislation Sen. Joseph Silk, R-Broken Bow, said clearly does not provide equal protection for unborn children and will ensure that abortion continue in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma icon Clara Luper was a civic leader, schoolteacher and activist best known for orchestrating the 1958 Oklahoma City sit-in protests at downtown drugstore lunch counters, which helped to overturn their racial segregation policies. The Clara Luper Civil Rights Center is set to be built in Oklahoma City, and state Sen. George Young wants to appropriate additional funds to help with costs for the museum.

State Sen. Joe Newhouse, R-Broken Arrow, says Oklahomans should decide if the legislature can save additional funds each year by increasing the constitutional savings cap on the Rainy Day Fund, which is the state’s emergency savings account.

Sen. George Young, D-Oklahoma City, has filed Senate Bill 1267, which would encourage the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education to use appropriated money to support minority entrepreneurship within the state.

Oklahoma Senate leaders on Tuesday commented on the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s ruling regarding redistricting.

“The court made the right call. Regardless, we’ve remained focused throughout on developing a redistricting plan that will help us do our job well. We are setting up a process that will allow us to work efficiently and effectively once we receive data from the 2020 Census,” said Senator Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle and chair of the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting.