The Democrat leadership of the Oklahoma State Senate is refusing to allow a committee chairman to hear a landmark workers compensation reform bill, Senate Republican leaders said at a State Capitol news conference.

House Bill 2619 was assigned by the Senate’s Democrat leadership to the Senate Judiciary Committee, but they will not allow Judiciary Chairman Jerry Smith, R-Tulsa, to hear the legislation in his committee.

“The issue is a complicated one and Oklahoma has made more progress on addressing the costs associated with our system than almost any state in the nation in the last decade. I don’t think I need to remind Senator Pruitt that for a number of years he championed a completely different style of reform. He told us his administrative courts plan like those adopted in Texas and Florida – if we would just take his word for it and enact it – would solve all our ills. We chose instead to move cautiously in the area of reform and have made great strides."
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The Oklahoma City Community College Board of Regents will dedicate the Keith Leftwich Memorial Library on Thursday, March 25, at 1:30 p.m. at the College's Library Plaza.

"Senator Leftwich sponsored legislation throughout the years that enabled Oklahoma City Community College to grow in service to its community," said Oklahoma City Community College Board Chair Darrel Lanier.
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Saying House Bill 2619 would further disadvantage workers injured on the job and end up costing employers and taxpayers millions of dollars more each year, Senate President Pro Tempore Cal Hobson announced Monday that the bill will not be granted a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday.
The announcement effectively kills the measure, which is authored in the Senate by Senator Scott Pruitt, R-Broken Arrow.
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The chance for meaningful reforms to Oklahoma’s expensive, pro-lawyer workers compensation system has been killed for the legislative session by Senate President Pro Tempore Cal Hobson, D-Lexington, who has chosen to obstruct reforms by not allowing a committee hearing on a landmark workers comp reform bill that sailed through the House of Representatives on a vote of 95 to 1.

The Senate Appropriations committee has given its approval to language ensuring the right of schools to display the words “E PLURIBUS UNUM” (Out of Many One)” and “IN GOD WE TRUST.”

Senator Charlie Laster is author of House Bill 2477, known as the “Reading Sufficiency Act.” The Shawnee Democrat amended the measure to include language declaring the right to display the mottos.
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“I think it was obvious again that we have a young governor with a vision for our state and the boldness to lead. A true leader doesn’t just point out the problems, he proposes real world solutions and that’s what this governor did today.

“I was particularly impressed by his continued dedication to improving education in our state and his recognition that teachers are the engine that make our education system go. Educating the next generation of Oklahomans is the best way to ensure a prosperous future for our state.
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Senate Republican Floor Leader James A. Williamson, R-Tulsa, made the following response to Gov. Brad Henry’s State of the State address:

“We know Gov. Henry likes to talk the talk about bipartisanship, but his State of the State address left many Republicans wondering if he will walk the walk. He adopted many Republican proposals like tax relief and lawsuit reform, but then failed to mention some of the most important issues facing our state.

A painting depicting two of Oklahoma’s most famous sons, Will Rogers and Wiley Post, has been dedicated at the State Capitol. State Senator Charles Ford, President of the Oklahoma State Senate Historical Preservation Fund Inc., unveiled the artwork during a ceremony in the State Senate Chamber on Tuesday morning.

Sen. Charles Ford, R-Tulsa, announced the dedication today of two more original paintings commissioned by the Oklahoma State Senate Historical Preservation Fund, Inc. The oil portraits of Oklahoma’s first territorial House Speaker, Arthur N. Daniels, and Oklahoma’s first statehood House Speaker, “Alfalfa Bill” Murray, were unveiled during a ceremony this afternoon in the House of Representatives Chamber.
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