The full Senate has given unanimous approval to a bill prohibiting employers from requesting or requiring current or prospective employees to give them access to their personal social media accounts. Sen. Kyle Loveless, R-Oklahoma City, and Rep. John Trebilcock, R-Broken Arrow, are the authors of House Bill 2372. The Senate approved the bill on Wednesday with a vote of 41 to 0.
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“For the second year in a row, mandatory testing for thousands of Oklahoma students has come to a complete halt because of ‘computer glitches.’ You’d think after going through this last year, the Superintendent would have made certain we didn’t see a repeat. To have this happen two years in a row is inexcusable.

“This is a failure of leadership. Oklahoma students, teachers and schools are under a lot of pressure with these high stakes tests. Once again, those in charge have failed them.” --Sen. Tom Ivester, D-Sayre

Sen. Cliff Aldridge today applauded statements by House Speaker Jeff Hickman regarding Senate Bill 1651, which would allocate $40 million from the state’s Unclaimed Property Fund to the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum. Aldridge said the House Speaker has remained consistent in his requirement that 51 members of the House Republican Caucus support the proposal before it is given a hearing in the House chamber.
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The full Senate has given its approval to legislation that would reduce Oklahoma’s top income tax rate by .25 and the corporate income tax rate by 1 full percentage point. House Bill 2508, by Sen. Mike Mazzei, was approved Tuesday. A Senate bill aimed at reducing income taxes is awaiting action by the full House.

Senate authors of a plan to increase public school funding by $600 million annually expect the bill to come up for a floor vote on Wednesday, one day before the deadline for consideration of House Bills. Sen. Jim Halligan, R-Stillwater, and Sen. John Ford, R-Bartlesville, have been working on changes to House Bill 2642, the Securing Educational Excellence Fund (SEEF).

Halligan, chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, said concerns over slowing a program to address aging state roads and bridges resulted in the development of a new funding plan.

The state Senate has unanimously approved House Bill 2526, legislation intended to address Oklahoma’s domestic violence crisis. Authored by Sen. David Holt and Rep. Kay Floyd, the proposal creates a series of research-based questions that will be asked to domestic violence victims by responding law enforcement officers.
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The full Senate has approved legislation that will ultimately increase public school funding by $600 million annually. Sen. Jim Halligan, R-Stillwater, and Sen. John Ford, R-Bartlesville, are Senate authors of House Bill 2642, the Securing Educational Excellence Fund (SEEF). The measure was approved unanimously on Wednesday.

The full Senate has given unanimous approval to a plan aimed at countering the impact of proposed federal legislation taxing Internet sales. The federal Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 would require Internet sales tax collections on businesses that don’t have a substantial physical presence in the state.

Sen. Clark Jolley is the author of the measure creating the Marketplace Equalization Fund, which was approved Wednesday as an amendment to HB 2720. The act would only become effective if Congress approves the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013.
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President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman issued the following statement after the House voted to approve SB 1246. Bingman is principal author of the income tax cut legislation, which now goes to Gov. Mary Fallin for her consideration.

Sen. Ralph Shortey is urging the Oklahoma House of Representatives to take up articles of impeachment filed by Rep. Mike Christian against the five Justices of the Oklahoma Supreme Court who voted this week to stay the executions of two death row inmates.

Shortey said the justices have abdicated their role as impartial interpreters of the law, allowing the Court to be successfully manipulated by death penalty activists.
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