Pending final passage, an additional judge will be elected by the voters of Cleveland, Garvin and McClain counties during the next election cycle. State Sen. Anthony Sykes, R-Moore, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and State Rep. Scott Martin, R-Norman, Chairman of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee, announced their agreement Tuesday.

“I am happy that the people will be making the decision,” Sykes said. “The prior versions that contained the effective date of January 12, 2015 were unacceptable.”

After receiving unanimous approval from both the House and Senate, a bill to keep sex offenders from being employed in public schools was signed into law Monday. Senate Bill 283, by Sen. Josh Brecheen and Rep. Todd Thomsen, will require that the State Board of Education be alerted when a school employee is charged with a sex offense.

In the past two years, three Oklahoma families sent loved ones to a substance abuse program at Narconon Arrowhead with the hopes of recovery. Instead, those families wound up planning funerals. Sen. Tom Ivester responded by filing legislation ensuring the state would have oversight of facilities operated by Narconon, known to have close ties to the Church of Scientology. Senate Bill 295, by Ivester and Rep. David Derby, was signed by Gov. Mary Fallin this past week.

Sen. Dan Newberry today said the Obama administration’s decision to deny the state’s request to extend funding for the Insure Oklahoma program, unless Oklahoma institutes the Obamacare exchanges, will force many thousands of Oklahoma’s neediest and most vulnerable off their health insurance plans.

Newberry said the administration’s denial of funding effectively holds the state hostage in its efforts to provide insurance access to low-income Oklahomans.

The State Senate has honored an Oklahoma physical science teacher for being one of only five educators nationwide to be inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame. Deborah Cornelison, a ninth-grade physical science teacher at Byng Junior High School, was a guest in the Senate chamber on Thursday when members honored her accomplishments with the passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 30, by Sen. Susan Paddack and Rep. Todd Thomsen.

Sen. Tom Ivester, D-Sayre, issued the following comments in response to the announcement today that Oklahoma Energy Secretary Michael Ming would resign his post to head the GE Global Research Center coming to the Oklahoma City area:

Today, we found out that Energy Secretary Michael Ming, who was surely involved in the effort to bring the GE Global Research Center to Oklahoma, is leaving his post to go head up this new facility.

Families of nursing home residents will soon be able to electronically monitor their loved ones thanks to legislation signed into law Monday. Senate Bill 587, by Sen. Ron Justice, will allow nursing home residents to install electronic monitoring devices in their private rooms if that resident or their legal representative pays for the monitoring.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Clark Jolley said the budget agreement announced Thursday by Gov. Mary Fallin and legislative leaders carefully prioritized the allocation of growth revenues for the FY 2014 budget. The agreement itself was reached earlier this session than in past years. Jolley attributed that accomplishment to the hard work of his subcommittee chairs.

Those who participate in agritourism activities such as hayrides and riding horses and get hurt will not be able to sue the agritourism owner as long as a warning is prominently posted on the property about the inherent risks of such activities. Senate Bill 931, by Sen. Ron Justice and Rep. Scott Biggs, will provide agritourism professionals with liability protection for such incidents.

Senate Democratic Leader Sean Burrage issued the following comments in response to the release of the Republican’s budget deal for Fiscal Year 2014.