Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Morgan said Friday that the tax cut and budget framework agreed to by state leaders is an historic victory for working and middle class families in Oklahoma.

The agreement includes raising the Oklahoma standard deduction to the level of the federal standard deduction over the next four years – a provision that will historically and dramatically change the tax structure in Oklahoma.
read more.

Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee of Oklahoma City commented on the budget agreement by House Speaker Todd Hiett, Senate President Pro Tem Mike Morgan, and Gov. Brad Henry.

“Thankfully Senate Democrats have backed down from their obstructionism that brought us to the brink of a government shutdown. If Republicans ran the State Senate, the state budget would have been completed on time and this costly special session would not have been necessary,” stated Coffee.

A new law intended to keep cases of animal abuse and neglect from going unnoticed will provide important safeguards against tragic cases of animal cruelty, said Sen. Cal Hobson.

Hobson, Senate author of House Bill 1672, said the signing of the new law represented the culmination of years of hard work by many people in an effort to secure protections for animals in Oklahoma.
read more.

State Sen. Harry Coates says the new Disney and Pixar film “Cars” could be a real boon for tourism in Oklahoma. That’s because one of the main characters in the film is based on a constituent in his district and her Route 66 Rock Café in Stroud.

“I’ve known Dawn Welch for many years and she’s a huge promoter for Stroud, Route 66 and our entire state,” said Coates, R-Seminole. “It’s a windfall for all of Oklahoma that Disney and Pixar decided to make a movie about Route 66.”
read more.

“(Senate Democrat leader Mike) Morgan said legislators will have to be cautious about tax cuts the next four years. ‘We can't get tax-cut crazy. And when we come back next year, we need to think about what we've done this year’.” – Reported in The Oklahoman, June 16, 2006.

Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee said that comments made Thursday by the Senate’s Democrat leader make him concerned that Senate Democrats may try to block parts of a historic tax cut agreement next year.

Nearly six years in the making, the recent licensing approval of the nation’s first inland spaceport at Burns Flat is representative of the sort of forward-thinking approach necessary to move the Oklahoma economy forward, Sen. Cal Hobson said on Friday.

Hobson said years of hard work by Sen. Gilmer Capps, former state Rep. Jack Bonny and other legislative leaders has laid the foundation for the rapid expansion of the Oklahoma aerospace industry.

Having emerged as a leading advocate for the oil and gas production industry in the legislature, Sen. Cliff Branan has been honored by the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association as Legislator of the Year.

OIPA Vice President of Governmental Affairs Bruce Stallsworth praised Branan for his efforts to support the oil and gas industry in the legislature.

As legislative subcommittees put the final touches on the 2007 state budget, Sen. Debbe Leftwich wants to ensure retirees get a much needed cost-of-living increase. Leftwich is calling on fellow lawmakers to make sure retired state employees, teachers, police, firefighters and state law enforcement officers such as highway patrol troopers all get a cost-of-living increase.
read more.

The Oklahoma State Senate Wednesday approved a $6.6 billion general appropriations bill that included historic investments in public schools and state colleges and universities.

Senate Bill 80XX passed on a 31-15 vote.

The measure, which includes a $3,000 across-the-board pay raise for public school teachers and a $130 million funding increase for higher education, is part of a budget and tax cut agreement reached between Senate and House leaders last week.
read more.

State Sen. Kathleen Wilcoxson called a recently released report on high school graduation rates alarming. She said she is disappointed that State Superintendent Sandy Garrett has failed to explain to the public how high the drop-out rates in Oklahoma actually are and how this impacts the entire state.

The newly released report by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center showed that Oklahoma does slightly better, with 71 percent of students graduating in 2002-2003, compared to a national rate of 69.6 percent.
read more.