Statement by Senator Stratton Taylor,
Senate President Pro Tempore

Statement by Senator Stratton Taylor,
Senate President Pro Tempore

"I haven't had time to review the court's ruling so I can't comment on the specifics of the decision. Obviously, I am disappointed that the court did not select the redistricting plan submitted by the State Senate.

"Unlike Governor Keating's proposal, the Senate plan put the people ahead of the incumbent politicians and preserved historic communities of interest, namely the separate districts in northeastern and southeastern Oklahoma.

Statement by Senator Stratton Taylor,
Senate President Pro Tempore

"It's important to remember that there are still two other congressional redistricting cases pending – one in Sequoyah County District Court and one in federal court. In fact, the trial in Sequoyah County is scheduled to begin on Monday.

"We are going to monitor the developments in those cases. If those actions do not proceed for any reason, we plan to appeal the ruling that was made by the Oklahoma County District Court."

(Oklahoma City) Legislative leaders have reached a budget agreement that would protect public education and a variety of health care programs from the budget axe, in addition to funding an increase in health benefits for teachers and education support personnel.

In order to accomplish those goals and still balance the state budget, however, state reserve funds would have to be tapped and the bulk of state agencies would be forced to absorb a 5 percent budget reduction in the coming fiscal year, according to legislative leaders.

Statement by Senator Stratton Taylor,
Senate President Pro Tempore

"Unlike Mr. Daxon, we agree with the statements made by Governor Keating. As Governor Keating said Tuesday, the budget agreement forged by legislative leaders is an excellent first step. As the governor also pointed out, the legislative proposal has many similarities to Governor Keating's original budget in the sense that it protects such important programs as education, health, veterans and mental health.

Senator Carol Martin said she is disappointed with this weeks ruling by the State Supreme Court that an initiative petition she headed to have English declared the official language of Oklahoma was ruled unconstitutional.

"Not only do I disagree with the question of its constitutionality, I also believe the ruling of the court was premature. "I believe that the Supreme Court was quite zealous in their ruling in that the people of Oklahoma have not yet had an opportunity to vote on the petition and further considering the fact that we withdrew our petition," said Senator Martin.

(Oklahoma City) During the last decade, Oklahoma did more to increase teacher salaries than almost any other state in the country, according to new statistics released by the National Education Association.

From the 1990-91 to 2000-01 school year, Oklahoma ranked 6th highest in the country for the percentage increase it granted in teacher salaries. When adjusted for inflation during that 10-year period, teacher pay rose by 8.2 percent in Oklahoma, well above the national average of just 0.5 percent, according to the NEA.

Sen. Keith Leftwichs effort to eliminate annoying telemarketing calls has cleared another legislative hurdle. SB 950 received final passage in the Senate Tuesday.

The Telemarketer Restriction Act creates a list of Oklahoma residents who do not wish to receive unsolicited telemarketing phone calls. The statewide registry will be maintained by the Attorney Generals office.

This bill is now one step closer to becoming law, said Senator Leftwich. SB 950 is now on its way to the Governors office for his signature.

Oklahoma is among the first states in the nation to pass legislation regulating Human Transporters with passage of SB 1473. The device, nick-named Ginger when it was first unveiled last year, is a revolutionary, pedestrian-friendly, battery-powered, self-balancing 2-wheel device with built-in gyroscope stabilizers. Senator Glenn Coffee, R-OKC and Representative David Braddock, D-Altus are authors of the measure.

Senator Scott Pruitt has authored a resolution calling for the United States Government to fully support Israel during this latest round of violence in the Middle East. The measure was approved unanimously by the full Senate Wednesday afternoon.

"Oklahoma knows first hand the tragedy and the horror of terrorism. We know how destructive it is, and we lament the tragic loss of life by the Israeli and Palestinian people during recent hostilities in the region," said Pruitt.