The full Senate will soon vote on a measure to give neighborhoods across the state greater protection from rapists and child molesters. Sen. Glenn Coffee is author of Senate Bill 1754, which would create the Neighborhood Protection Against Sex Offenders Act. The bill won approval in the Senate Business and Labor Committee on Monday.
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State Senator Kathleen Wilcoxson has won committee approval for Senate Bill 1089. The Senate Finance Committee approved the legislation on Tuesday. SB 1089 would ban the sale of lottery tickets at pawn shops, payday lenders and check-cashing businesses.
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The Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday approved a measure that will reduce the cost of litigation and further reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits in Oklahoma. By an 8-0 vote, the committee voted to send the Lawsuit Responsibility Act to the full Senate for consideration.

Judiciary Chairman Charles Laster said Senate Bill 1784 would address the issue of frivolous lawsuits “on the front end of a case by giving judges more authority to dismiss cases deemed to be frivolous.”
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State Senator Debbe Leftwich said the Senate has given its final approval to the Oklahoma Quality Investment Act. The measure would provide incentive payments to “at risk” manufacturing companies in an effort to keep those facilities in the state.

“The bottom line is saving Oklahoma jobs. We need to make sure that the economic advantages of keeping those facilities and jobs in our state are enough to keep us in the game. The incentives offered in House Bill 1619 can give us the edge we need,” said Leftwich, D-OKC.

- Republican senator seeks committee hearing on his bill to reduce income tax on low income Oklahomans

By a 7 to 6 vote, Republicans on the Senate’s Finance Committee defeated an effort by Senate Democrats to expand a welfare-style program.

Senate Bill 1821, by Sen. Constance Johnson, D-Oklahoma City, would have doubled the state’s Earned Income Credit, a welfare-style program that provides income tax “refunds” to some individuals even when they pay very little or no income taxes.

Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee made the following statement regarding Senate Bill 1874, the so-called “Lawsuit Responsibility Act.” The bill is authored by Sen. Charles Laster, the Shawnee Democrat lawyer who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A bill to pay millions to Oklahoma counties owed them because of Ad Valorem reimbursement obligations has won approval by the Senate Finance Committee. Sen. Jeff Rabon is author of Senate Bill 1774. He has long advocated ensuring the reimbursement fund has adequate resources and said he was gratified by Tuesday’s committee vote. The fund was created to reimburse counties for lost property tax revenue due to Ad Valorem breaks and double homestead exemptions.
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Statement by Senator Constance N. Johnson

“Republican opposition to a tax break for the state’s poorest citizens, contrasted with their support for measures, like Senate Bill 2022, that proposes tax cuts for the wealthiest 15 percent of taxpayers, sends a clear message about the need for a paradigm shift about economic disparity in our state.”

State Senator Debbe Leftwich, chair of the Senate Business and Labor Committee, wants more county officials to be part of the budget making process for county budgets.

Leftwich (D-Oklahoma City) filed Senate Bill 1576 known as the “The County Budget Act” which modifies the way a county determines or chooses to be part of the county budget board process.

This bill would expand the number of budget board members to include both county commissioners and other elected county officers.

Senator Debbe Leftwich, chair of the Senate Business and Labor Committee wants to give Oklahoma voters the option of deciding what type of local government they want to have.

Leftwich (D-Oklahoma City) filed Senate Bill 1407 which would give any county in Oklahoma which contains a metropolitan area with a population of 250,000 or more the option to adopt or amend a county home rule charter for county government.