Senate Democrats are not serious about passing meaningful lawsuit reform, Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, said Wednesday.

Senate Democrats passed Gov. Brad Henry’s watered-down lawsuit bill on a party-line vote Wednesday as part of House Bill 1554. Republicans, who support real lawsuit reform, opposed the Democrats’ watered-down version.

Senate Democrats voted along party lines Wednesday to block a meaningful workers’ compensation reform bill from advancing on the Senate floor.

“Senate Democrats had a meaningful workers’ comp reform bill on their desks, and they chose to play politics instead of choosing to make history. Their vote today was a vote against meaningful workers’ comp reform,” stated Sen. Scott Pruitt, R-Broken Arrow, the Senate author of House Bill 2046.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Charlie Laster said Wednesday he’s concerned the decision by Senate Republicans not to go forward with a floor vote on House Bill 2046 could make reaching a workers compensation reform agreement difficult before the constitutionally-mandated May 27 Sine Die adjournment date.

“First Speaker Hiett wouldn’t participate in negotiations and now the Senate Republicans appear to be walking away. It’s going to be tough to negotiate compromise when there’s nobody to negotiate with,” Laster said.

Thursday afternoon Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin and Senate Republicans resumed their attempt to bring a workers’ comp reform bill to a vote in the Senate as a call for senators to come into session was continued.

Yesterday, Senate Democrats said “we’ll find out tomorrow if (Republicans) are really interested in passing a workers’ compensation bill this year.” But Thursday Senate Democrats went into in hiding to avoid an up-or-down vote on workers comp reform. All 22 GOP senators reported to the Senate floor, but 25 senators are needed to achieve a quorum.

Senator Jeff Rabon, Assistant Majority Leader and Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural Resources and Regulatory Services, stated today that rural Oklahoma is not getting its fair share of the pie in the latest budget agreement announced by both Senate and House leaders.

Vital programs that benefit rural Oklahoma were removed from the budget agreement that was announced last week in a press conference. Services that already took a deep cut two years ago during the fiscal downturn.

State Capitol, Oklahoma City – Senate Republicans have requested that Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin continue to preside over the Oklahoma State Senate on Monday in an effort to secure an up-or-down vote on a real workers’ compensation reform bill – a request Fallin says she will honor.

“This battle is about whether we’re going to save and create Oklahoma jobs with real workers’ comp reform, or whether the Democrats will succeed in protecting trial lawyers,” stated Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City.

Assistant Majority Leader Jeff Rabon said after Lt. Governor Mary Fallin and Senate Republicans pulled their petty political stunt Thursday, it was obvious that they were the party quickly becoming the road block for true workers’ compensation reform.

Rabon, a Hugo Democrat, said there are still four weeks left in session and two measures still alive to address the issue before session adjourns on May 27th.

Oklahomans should know more about House Bill 2046, the workers’ compensation reform measure being pushed by Lt. Governor Mary Fallin, than Republicans are telling them.

Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee and Senator Scott Pruitt are using gross generalities to mislead the public about the bill and the reasons Democrats oppose it in its current form, Senate Judiciary Chairman Charlie Laster said Friday.