Statement from Senator Cal Hobson,
Vice-chairman, Senate Appropriations Committee:

"I applaud Governor Keating for signing the trooper pay raise, but in the same breath I would also urge him to approve legislation granting thousands of retired law enforcement officers a cost-of-living increase. They put their lives on the line for us for an entire career and deserve to be compensated.

Governor Keating's veto of welfare-to-work funds will jeopardize the progress Oklahoma has made on the welfare reform front, in addition to damaging assistance programs for senior citizens, according to the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Human Services.

"We're making unbelievable progress in getting thousands of welfare recipients off state assistance and putting them back to work. I am disappointed. This veto will negatively impact our efforts at providing child care and job placement for people who need to work," said Senator Ben Brown.

Oklahoma City - "I'd say somebody got overly zealous in doing their job," said Senator Lewis Long in reaction to a recent fine slapped on a Little League baseball organization for not having workers' compensation insurance.

The State Labor Department had fined the Moore Little League Baseball Association $2,000 for failing to carry workers' comp insurance.

"This is just simply ridiculous. I find it extremely interesting that this has never happened before. But I'm going to make sure it never happens again," said Senator Long, D-Glenpool.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Senator Maxine Horner (D-Tulsa) and Representative Don Ross (D-Tulsa) are offering a bill that would provide a workable solution to the fiasco over who controls the Roger's University Tulsa campus. This despite being virtually ignored by the sponsors of other measures addressing the issue.

"It appears that Representative Ross and I are doing nothing when this campus is in both of our districts," said Senator Horner. "That is simply not true. We have a bill and it is substantive."

State policy leaders should focus targeted tax relief on Oklahoma's ailing energy industry before considering Governor Keating's omnibus initiative to slash a variety of different taxes, according to the chairman of the Senate Energy, Environmental Resources and Regulatory Affairs.

Governor Keating's refusal to meet with the board of a state employees group is a slap in the face to state workers and indicative of the low priority he assigns to issues important to them, according to a Senate budget leader.

Governor Keating should take a stand against an organization that is attempting to influence the decisions of Oklahoma judges, according to the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senator Brad Henry said there is an appearance that the Governor supports the initiative because Secretary of State Tom Cole's political consulting firm has been hired by the group.

Hog and chicken producers should be required to foot the bill for the cost of regulating their respective industries, according to the Senate author of the two main bills addressing the issue. Senator Paul Muegge is preparing to add fee schedules to SB 1175 and SB 1170 to accomplish that goal.

Two area state lawmakers are calling on Oklahoma's U.S. Senators to undo the damage caused by a recent political fight in the nation's capital and return $30 million in federal highway money to Tulsa and northeastern Oklahoma.

Senator Stratton Taylor and Senator Kevin Easley are urging their counterparts in Washington, DC to be better advocates for improved roads than Congressmen Steve Largent and Tom Coburn have been. The federal highway bill is now before the U.S. Senate.

"Governor Keating's veto is disappointing, but it is certainly consistent with the shabby treatment he's accorded state employees, retirees and teachers throughout his administration. He had the ability to offset a devastating premium hike with a stroke of his pen, but instead he chose to pull the rug out from under thousands of families who are struggling to make ends meet. The fact that he's vetoed not one, but two bills on this subject speaks volumes about his attitude toward them.