State Senate Co-President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, commented on Gov. Brad Henry’s 2008 State of the State Address.

“With our state and nation facing so many critical challenges, I believe the people of Oklahoma were hoping to hear more of a vision for change and innovation from Governor Henry. Instead, much of what the governor discussed were repackaged old proposals, and he didn’t even mention many important issues facing our state.

“Governor Henry provided an inspirational state of the state address today calling on the Legislature to invest in the future of our state and continue the progress we have made over the course of the last 100 years.

“His agenda to keep Oklahoma growing during its second century of statehood provides all Oklahomans an opportunity to have a brighter future and demands responsibility from each of us.

“I look forward to working with the Governor and members of the entire Oklahoma Legislature to find common ground on issues important to the great people of our state.”

State Senator Andrew Rice (D-OKC) today praised the life and work of former Democratic State Representative Opio Toure, who died this morning after a long battle with a chronic lung condition.

“We are all saddened today by the loss of our good friend, Representative Toure, who was a consummate champion for social rights in Oklahoma,” Rice said. “He will be remembered as someone who fiercely represented the needs of the people he represented in Oklahoma City. Today, we will honor and commend his service to the people of Oklahoma.”

A recent ranking by a gun control group gives a timely boost to an effort to attract firearms manufacturers to Oklahoma, according to the lawmaker who initiated the endeavor.

Last Thursday, the Brady Campaign – a group that advocates gun control measures – said Oklahoma was tied with Kentucky having the fewest gun control “points” in a national study. Out of a possible 100 points, the two states scored a two.

The Senate Education Committee approved legislation Monday that allows students with disabilities to receive an automatic special education transfer after they have been granted school transfers for three consecutive years. The transfer will become permanent and automatically renew each year.

House Bill 2518, authored by State Senator Sean Burrage, D-Claremore, and Rep. Ben Sherrer, D-Chouteau, now goes to the full Senate for approval.

The State Senate unanimously passed a mining bill on Monday that prevents the needless waste of municipalities’ time and resources in the process of reconsidering mining permits.

Senator Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, authored Senate Bill 706 that allows municipalities the right to limit consideration of certain mining requests. SB 706 helps ensure that city resources are not wasted by reviewing the same application over and over again after it has already been denied.

Bill Now Heads to Governor Henry for His Signature

Crossing party lines and teaming up with her Republican counterparts to speed up the legislative process for a bill aimed at making government more efficient, State Senator Nancy Riley applauded the teamwork behind her bill that passed the Senate on Monday making the mining application process less burdensome for local communities. The bill now goes to the Governor for his signature before becoming law.

The Co-Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday emphasized the importance of adhering to a fair and fiscally responsible approach to transportation funding.

Sen. Jeff Rabon said that while the Legislature must do more to provide for the state’s long-term transportation funding needs, but not at the expense of essential services. Rabon was specifically critical of proposals to divert revenue produced by motor vehicle excise taxes to transportation funding.

An agreement on lawsuit reform is possible this year, according to the Republican co-chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, if Gov. Brad Henry is willing to make a counter-offer to the bipartisan lawsuit reform plans that he rejected during the 2007 legislative session.

“I believe that a meaningful lawsuit reform bill is doable this year if the governor will get engaged in the process and make a formal counter-offer to the bipartisan proposals he rejected last year,” stated Sen. James Williamson, R-Tulsa, the co-chairmen of the Judiciary Committee.

Legislation to strengthen penalties for assaulting a pregnant woman has cleared its first hurdle in the State Senate. Sen. Debbe Leftwich is Senate author of House Bill 1897, which was approved Wednesday by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety and Judiciary.

Domestic violence is the number one cause of death for pregnant women. Oklahoma needs to do more to address such violence before it results in the death of a woman and her baby, said Leftwich, D-Oklahoma City.