Senator Jeff Rabon, Assistant Majority Leader and Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural Resources and Regulatory Services, stated today that rural Oklahoma is not getting its fair share of the pie in the latest budget agreement announced by both Senate and House leaders.

Vital programs that benefit rural Oklahoma were removed from the budget agreement that was announced last week in a press conference. Services that already took a deep cut two years ago during the fiscal downturn.

State Capitol, Oklahoma City – Senate Republicans have requested that Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin continue to preside over the Oklahoma State Senate on Monday in an effort to secure an up-or-down vote on a real workers’ compensation reform bill – a request Fallin says she will honor.

“This battle is about whether we’re going to save and create Oklahoma jobs with real workers’ comp reform, or whether the Democrats will succeed in protecting trial lawyers,” stated Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City.

Assistant Majority Leader Jeff Rabon said after Lt. Governor Mary Fallin and Senate Republicans pulled their petty political stunt Thursday, it was obvious that they were the party quickly becoming the road block for true workers’ compensation reform.

Rabon, a Hugo Democrat, said there are still four weeks left in session and two measures still alive to address the issue before session adjourns on May 27th.

Oklahomans should know more about House Bill 2046, the workers’ compensation reform measure being pushed by Lt. Governor Mary Fallin, than Republicans are telling them.

Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee and Senator Scott Pruitt are using gross generalities to mislead the public about the bill and the reasons Democrats oppose it in its current form, Senate Judiciary Chairman Charlie Laster said Friday.

A measure that would close a loophole that allowed a former Republican lawmaker to receive his legislative salary while locked up in jail is one step closer to becoming a law.

Senate Joint Resolution 5, by Senator Jay Paul Gumm, easily cleared the Senate Tuesday on a unanimous 45-0 vote. The measure was forwarded to the House of Representatives.

The resolution would give Oklahoma voters a chance to put in the state constitution language that prevents any state legislator from being paid while locked up on a misdemeanor conviction.
read more.

A Democratic proposal that will cut taxes by $402 million over the next four years won approval in the State Senate Wednesday.

The Helping Oklahomans Prosper Economically proposal is targeted to benefit working families, retirees and small business, said Senator Jay Paul Gumm, author of the proposal.

"This isn't another tax cut for the rich. HOPE cuts taxes the most for the people who can afford them the least," said Gumm, a Democrat from Durant.
read more.

State Senator Debbe Leftwich, D-OKC has won full Senate approval for a measure that would ban campaign contributions inside the State Capitol. Leftwich said the measure passed unanimously.

“I think this is an important day for ethics in Oklahoma. I am very happy that everyone in the chamber agreed that this is the right thing to do,” Leftwich said.
read more.

A measure that would have required candidates for office to pickup their campaign signs along state road and highway right-of-ways with 15 days of an election failed in the State Senate Wednesday morning.

“The state spends $4 million a year picking up trash on roadsides. State lawmakers, other elected officials and candidates shouldn’t be contributing to that problem,” said Senator Kenneth Corn, author of Senate Bill 603.
read more.

“I am thrilled that Speaker Hiett has agreed to serve as House author of Senate Bill 745, which contains the Higher Education bond package created by the presidents of the state’s colleges and universities.

“He has promised to grant the bill a hearing the House. As House author, he has the ability to move it through the process quickly and send it to Governor Henry’s desk with the same unanimous support it received in the Senate.

“As part of an agreement with Speaker Hiett, I have also signed on as author of his Higher Education bond proposal.
read more.

The second phase of a study of women inmates in Oklahoma has just been released by the Commission on Children and Youth. The study focused on women inmates with children.

Senator Debbe Leftwich was principal author of SJR 48, which called for the study. Leftwich said while not surprising, the findings were nothing short of “disturbing.”
read more.