OKLAHOMA CITY - According to numbers from the Office of State Finance, Oklahomans paid an all-time record for professional services contracts; $230,426,811 for fiscal year 1997.

"While some people are applauding the continuation of a hiring freeze on state jobs, Oklahoma citizens are paying through the nose for outside contractors to fill those job slots," according Senator Lewis Long.

In FY '95 state taxpayers shelled out $145,575,845 for professional service contracts. That number jumped to $170,184,128 in FY '96, and a record $230,426,811 for FY '97.

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

OKLAHOMA CITY - The summer of 1997 was a tragic season for Tulsa's East Central High School. One of the school's outstanding students was killed by a drunk driver.

Seventeen-year-old Greg Gifford was driving through a construction zone with friends when they ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. A drunk driver traveling at speeds of 90 miles an hour and upwards, plowed into the side of the teenagers' car, killing Greg and critically injuring another student.

Saying current higher education appropriations will support a four-year university in Tulsa, a state legislator has filed a bill that would create such an institution in the state's second largest city.

"We could end all of the squabbling and give the people of the Tulsa area what they deserve without spending another dime on higher education. All we have to do is take the funding that's now being appropriated to the Rogers University consortium and instead devote it to a four-year university in Tulsa," said Senator Lewis Long.

Improved public schools, an unemployment tax cut and a moratorium on hog and poultry farms will be among the top items on the Senate agenda when the 1998 Oklahoma Legislature convenes for its regular session on February 2nd. Passing legislation that will keep Oklahoma's economy on track will be the biggest priority, according to the leader of the State Senate.

Financial obligations stemming from a massive road building program and a criminal punishment program will eat up a good deal of the state's growth revenue, leaving legislators little available funding to devote to other initiatives, according to the Senate's budget leader.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Driving is a privilege that many people take for granted. That's why Senator Keith Leftwich is announcing an initiative designed to put a greater emphasis on educating Oklahoma's young drivers.

Senator Leftwich is holding a public hearing on the proposal on Wednesday, February 4 in the State Capitol's Senate Chamber. The 10:30 a.m. meeting is to solicit the public's view of driver's education.

If Oklahoma does not begin addressing some of the many problems its children face, the state will be incurring huge costs in the future when it ultimately is forced to deal with the results of that neglect. That is the conclusion of a new Senate report commissioned by Senator Ben Brown.

The Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce is apparently endorsing a new regulatory program that could result in higher telephone bills for Oklahoma business customers.

The State Chamber's Richard Rush issued a press release Tuesday touting regulatory changes that Southwestern Bell is currently seeking. It also criticized an independent report commissioned by the Oklahoma State Senate that raised a number of serious concerns about the regulatory plan.

Governor Keating should ask his Republican colleagues in the U.S. Congress to restore funding they cut from Medicaid and Medicare before he attempts to raid Oklahoma's tobacco settlement fund to cover up their mistake, according to State Senator Jeff Rabon.

The Hugo legislator is taking exception to the Governor's plan to spend $42 million in tobacco funds on Medicaid reimbursements, noting that such an action would not be necessary if Governor Keating could convince his Republican colleagues in the nation's capital to address the problem they created.