State Sen. Andrew Rice has filed legislation to stop employers from improperly misclassifying workers as “independent contractors” in order to avoid paying unemployment and other taxes. Senate Bill 1384 would allow the Oklahoma Tax Commission, Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Court and Oklahoma Employment Security Commission to share information and coordinate investigative and enforcement efforts in order to find employers who intentionally misclassify individuals as independent contractors rather than employees.
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State Senator Jim Wilson recently filed legislation to authorize the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission to create a voluntary Shared Work Unemployment Compensation Program. Senate Bill 1385 would allow part time employees to receive unemployment insurance payments.
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Oklahoma Senate Republicans today released the first section of their 2010 Legislative agenda, focusing on their goals for Economic Development, Energy, and Government Reform.

Under the leadership of Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee (R-OKC) and Majority Floor Leader Todd Lamb (R-Edmond), who also chaired the Senate Republican Agenda Committee, Senate Republicans have constructed an ambitious legislative road map to build upon the successes of their first session in the majority in 2009.

“Senate Republicans did a great job of ignoring the huge elephant in the room today. They refused to talk about what they are going to do to get us out of this billion dollar budget hole.

“They spent their morning talking about all the proposals they will push that curry favor with Corporate America through giveaways to giant corporations and less regulation.

"Once again actual revenue receipts have failed to meet projections. However, we continue in positive discussions with the governor's office and the House, and I am optimistic that a new budget framework can be announced by the beginning of the new legislative session in February.

"We know that many Oklahoma taxpayers are hurting because of the national recession, policies coming out of Washington, and the depressed job market. It is imperative that the new budget framework is fiscally responsible, and protects Oklahomans from tax increases."

State Sen. Debbe Leftwich has filed legislation aimed at party bus companies that turn a blind eye to drunken teen passengers. Leftwich said she began working on the legislation after being contacted by officials with Santa Fe South High School last spring.
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Sen. Constance N. Johnson in December announced her intentions regarding a four year strategy to repeal Oklahoma’s death penalty. On Thursday, Johnson said the plan involves initially highlighting the economic and ethical concerns that make capital punishment an ineffective deterrent and a drain on state resources, and in the interim conducting education and awareness raising activities across the state to undo many commonly held misperceptions and much misinformation about the death penalty in our state.

Thursday, January 14 marks the deadline for members of the Oklahoma State Senate to file legislation for the 2010 session, the second of the 52nd Legislature. By 5 p.m., 942 bills and 26 joint resolutions had been filed, with staff members expected to work into the evening filing the final measures. Final figures will be released on Friday.

Members of the public can read and download current legislation by going to the official State Senate website at www.oksenate.gov and following the link for legislation at the top of the homepage.
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Bill filing has ended for the 2010 legislative session. Thursday, January 14 was the deadline for members of the Oklahoma State Senate to file legislation for the second session of the 52nd Legislature, with 1082 bills and 28 joint resolutions filed. In 2009, Senators filed 1,240 bills and 42 joint resolutions for the upcoming session. Of those, 860 Senate Bills and 38 Senate Joint Resolutions are still alive for the 2010 session. read more.

Sen. Dan Newberry on Monday criticized President Barack Obama’s proposal of a 10-year tax on the country’s largest banks to cover a projected $117 billion shortfall in the federal government’s Financial Crisis Bailout Fund. Newberry said the proposal would be counterproductive to economic recovery.

The tax would be levied against approximately 50 of the nation’s largest financial institutions, regardless of whether they have received funds through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Institutions which have already repaid TARP funds would also be subject to the new tax.