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Oklahoma Senate
Sen. Ralph Shortey today said the House of Representatives sent a message that they are serious about protecting the Second Amendment rights of Oklahomans by overriding the governor’s veto of House Bill 2461.
OKLAHOMA CITY Citing conflict of interest, Sen. Ralph Shortey said Friday the chairman of the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board should resign. Shortey, R-Oklahoma City, points to a clear conflict of interest involving John Harrington of Edmond, who currently serves as the chairman of the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board, while at the same time serving as the Chief Executive Officer of Funds for Learning, LLC, a company that he owns that performs e-rate consulting services for Oklahoma public schools.
read more.Oklahoma’s incarceration rates, especially for nonviolent offenders, have grown significantly in recent years filling prisons to capacity and costing the state millions of dollars. To address this growing problem, Sen. Josh Brecheen and House Speaker Jeff Hickman authored Senate Bill 1720, which was recently signed into law. The act will strengthen community supervision requirements of offenders to ensure proven behavior modification methods are used to lower the state’s high recidivism/incarceration rates and help these individuals become productive, self-sufficient citizens.
The Oklahoma State University Museum of Art today packed 55 pieces from the Oklahoma State Senate art collection for transportation to the University’s new Postal Plaza Gallery in downtown Stillwater. The paintings will be featured in the University’s upcoming exhibition entitled Framing History: Highlights from the Oklahoma State Capitol Senate Collection.
The 15,000 square foot gallery is Oklahoma State University’s first dedicated museum facility. The public exhibition will run from July 7, 2014, to Oct. 25, 2014.
President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman comments on the death this week of former state Sen. William “Bill” Schuelein, 86, of Miami. A Democrat, Schuelein represented District 1 in the Oklahoma Senate from 1972 to 1992. He passed away on Wednesday at his home.
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Sen. Dan Newberry is one of 48 state officials from across the country to be selected by the Council of State Governments (CSG) as a Henry Toll Fellow for the class of 2014.
The Toll Fellowship Program is one of the nation’s foremost leadership development programs for state officials. According to CSG, a nine-member panel of leaders reviewed a record number of applications to select this year’s class of Toll Fellows.
Currie Ballard was an extraordinary individual. He was a respected historian and journalist as well as a dedicated public servant. He was not defined or limited by his past, but rather, he was strengthened by it. Currie was an inspiration to many, including me. I feel so fortunate to have known him and to have had the opportunity to work with him in the State Senate. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends, and we join them in mourning the loss of this truly great Oklahoman. Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman.
Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman today said the federal government’s decision to deny the extension of Oklahoma’s No Child Left Behind waiver will punish the state and further an agenda to control schools.
The decision could force Oklahoma schools to reexamine their budgets to comply with federal regulations. Bingman said the denial was a political statement intended to punish Oklahoma for implementing reforms that empower parents and communities and encourage the adoption of more rigorous educational standards.
read more.Sen. Dan Newberry today said most Oklahoma employers will pay lower unemployment taxes in 2015, due in part to key unemployment measures signed into law in recent years. Reforms have strengthened the state’s workforce system and unemployment insurance trust fund, allowing for lower unemployment benefit payments, he said.
As a result, the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) this week announced that unemployment tax rates for all Oklahoma employers will be dropping to the minimum rate next year.
