Chairman Charles Laster led Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday in voting for amendments that weakened House Bill 2046, the landmark workers’ comp reform bill authored by House Speaker Todd Hiett, R-Kellyville, and Sen. Scott Pruitt, R-Broken Arrow.

Before being amended, Pruitt’s bill was estimated to reduce workers’ comp costs by up to $158 million by the non-partisan National Council on Compensation Insurance. A competing plan authored by Gov. Brad Henry is estimated to only save $20 to 51 million.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines Tuesday to send Governor Brad Henry’s Texas-Plus lawsuit reform plan to the floor of the State Senate for a vote.

Democrats supported the ground-breaking reform measure, while Republicans opposed it. Judiciary Committee Chairman Charlie Laster explained that Henry’s plan was inserted as an amendment in House Bill 2047 by Speaker Todd Hiett.

The authors of two bills to protect victims of domestic violence or rape are pushing legislative committees to approve the measures before it’s too late. This coming Thursday, April 7, is the Senate deadline for committees to act on bills from the opposite chamber, while the deadline for the House is Thursday, April 21.

The lawmakers, along with representatives of the YWCA, The Oklahoma Conference of Churches and Oklahoma’s Catholic Charities spoke in support of the bills at the State Capitol on Monday.

SENATOR COFFEE: Gov. Henry is Putting Families at Risk by Releasing A Violent Criminal Every Workday

State Capitol, Oklahoma City – Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee said Friday that a new criminal justice study shows that Gov. Brad Henry was “flat wrong” when he claimed Wednesday that releasing violent criminals on supervised parole is better than making them serve their full sentence.

Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, made the following statement in response to the Senate Democrats’ “2020 Plan” for transportation funding in Oklahoma.

“Democrats in the Legislature have under-funded transportation for years, so it is encouraging to see that they are finally making transportation a priority. As the saying goes, better late than never. I look forward to studying their plan more closely,” Coffee stated.

Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Morgan and members of the Senate Democratic Caucus unveiled a plan Friday that would fund replacement or rehabilitation of nearly 900 of the state’s 1,600 deficient bridges over the next 15 years.

“Oklahoma is No. 1 in the nation in the percentage of deficient bridges. We’re here today to announce our support for a plan to change that without raising taxes, without threatening funding for our public schools and without mortgaging the future of our highway maintenance plan,” said Morgan, D-Stillwater.

Senator Kenneth Corn, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety, called on Governor Brad Henry to expand the special session to include funding priorities for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (DOC).

“During the budget process my pleas to those at the negotiating table fell on deaf ears,” Corn said. “I am fearful that waiting any longer to address the issue of additional funding for DOC will seriously compromise the safety of Oklahoma communities and today I am asking the Governor for his help.”

OKLAHOMA CITY-Republicans in the House are turning their heads to the problems that come with credit card debt and bankruptcy by killing a bill being backed by the State Chamber of Commerce. Senate Bill 378 would have required students who graduate from an Oklahoma school to take one semester of Personal Financial Economics but was killed when Republican House leaders refused to hear the bill before sine die adjournment last Friday.

Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Morgan said he is confident a special session on workers compensation reform will result in legislation to save millions for Oklahoma businesses while preserving the rights of workers injured on the job.

“We were just so close to passing meaningful workers’ compensation reform that struck the balance of protecting the rights of injured workers and lowering the cost of doing business,” Senator Morgan, (D-Stillwater) said. “The time constraints of the session just didn’t allow us to get it done today.”

Senator Debbe Leftwich announced today that House Bill 1653, the Graduated Drivers License Act, cleared the full Senate and is now headed to the Governor’s desk. The measure will provide teenage drivers with more time to develop their driving skills and learn in a low risk setting.

The Democrat from South Oklahoma City co-authored the legislation with Representative Danny Morgan, a Prague Democrat. Senator Leftwich stated that the measure follows in the footsteps of her late husband, Keith Leftwich, who brought the issue of a graduated driver’s license to the forefront.