“I honestly believe that Speaker Draper was the most intelligent legislator that I ever had the pleasure to serve with in the Oklahoma Legislature. He understood the statutes better than anyone who has served in the House or the Senate in the 26 years that I’ve been here.

“He was a brilliant man and a very effective leader.

“When Dan Draper was Speaker there was no question who was running the House. At the same time I always found him to be extremely fair, informed and compassionate.”

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Churches, schools, fire departments, senior citizens groups and other non-profit organizations can once again use raffles for fundraising without fear of breaking the law according to Senator Frank Shurden, a Democrat from Henryetta.

“I’ve been working for years so that non-profit groups could use raffles for fundraising. The only way we could make raffles legal again was to tie the legislation to State Question 705, The Oklahoma Educational Lottery Act,” he said.
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Roughly one-third of Oklahoma respondents described themselves as slightly or very overweight (25.3% of males & 36.6% of females).

14.2% of Oklahoma high-school age adolescents are at risk of becoming overweight (12.5% for males & 16% for females). National average is 15.4%.

11.1% of Oklahoma students are currently overweight (15.9% of males & 6.1 of females). National average is 13.5%.

64.3% of Oklahoma adolescents participate in vigorous physical activity compared to 62.6% nationally.

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The Task Force for the Promotion of Children’s Health has released its recommendations for the establishment of Healthy and Fit School Advisory Councils in Oklahoma schools. The list of recommendations includes suggestions about physical education and physical activity, nutritional education and services, as well as health education and health services.

Senate Bill 1627, also known as the Healthy and Fit Kids Act of 2004, authored by Sen. Bernest Cain and Rep. Darrell Gilbert, requires the establishment of the advisory councils in every school.
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State Senator Jeff Rabon today called on Oklahomans for Lawsuit Reform founders John Brock and Mike Cantrell to follow the lead of the Republican leader of the Texas House of Representatives and return all corporate contributions to its organization.
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The Oklahoma Nurses Association (ONA) is honoring two state lawmakers for their efforts to ensure all Oklahoma women have access to breast and cervical cancer treatment. State Sen. Debbe Leftwich, D-OKC, and Rep. Danny Hilliard, D-Sulphur, were authors of House Bill 2552 and will each receive the 2004 Friend of Nursing Award.
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(Oklahoma City) A pair of state senators charged Thursday that an organization claiming to be independently seeking reform of the state’s civil justice system has stepped over the line into partisan politics and its solicitation and use of secret corporate donations could be in violation of the Oklahoma Constitution and state campaign laws.

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Grandparents raising grandchildren is the topic of the latest interim study to be conducted in the coming months by the Oklahoma State Senate.

Senator Daisy Lawler, D-Comanche, helped bring awareness to the issue when she requested the study this summer. The Human Resources Committee had their first meeting at the State Capitol on Wednesday to discuss demographics, legal issues and programs offered by the Department of Human Services.
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Following Thursday’s vote in the House to approve all five articles of impeachment, the chairman designate of the Senate Judiciary committee announced the full Senate would convene Tuesday to begin the next phase in the impeachment of State Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher.
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Members of the State Senate approved two resolutions on Tuesday that laid the groundwork for the impeachment trial of State Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher to begin on September 27, 2004 at 1:30 p.m.

“That will give both the defense and the prosecution time to prepare. The morning of the 27th will be set aside for motions if there need to be any heard, but we expect to be ready to start promptly at 1:30 on September 27th,” explained Charlie Laster, Judiciary Chairman Designate for the State Senate.
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