State Senator Clark Jolley has authored a measure which encourages more drivers to ensure young children are properly secured in child safety seats. Senate Bill 799 would boost the current fine from ten dollars to one hundred dollars.

Senator Kenneth Corn (D-Poteau) has filed legislation that will limit the use of an automatic dial announcing device, such as those used during the 2004 campaigns.

Seeking to stem the tide of lost jobs and lost hope in Oklahoma, Republican leaders unveiled details of a landmark workers’ compensation reform plan at the State Capitol on Tuesday, January 25.

“I have watched many Oklahomans lose hope in recent years, as job opportunities move to other states,” says Speaker of the House Todd Hiett, R-Kellyville. “We must make significant strides this year. This is a broken system, and it must be fixed.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Cal Hobson and Senate Veterans and Military Affairs Committee Chairman Randy Bass said Monday that they would work to push Governor Henry’s benefits plan for active duty members of the Oklahoma National Guard and Air National Guard through the Legislature this year.

Senator Glenn Coffee of Oklahoma City has introduced legislation to help ensure that overseas absentee ballots from members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families are counted in Oklahoma elections.

“The least we can do for our fighting men and women, who are risking their lives for our freedom, is to ensure that their votes are counted,” stated Coffee, who serves as the Senate Republican Floor Leader.

Two bills aimed at giving tax relief to Oklahomans serving on active duty and a survivor’s benefit to military families who’ve lost a loved one are among the measures filed for the 2005 legislative session.

Republican Leader Glenn Coffee of Oklahoma City is author of Senate Bill 836 which would create the

Statement by Senate President Pro Tempore Cal Hobson

“We’re pleased with the goals outlined by Republican legislative leaders today. Improving the quality of education for our children, creating jobs, supporting working families and making health care more available and affordable have been the backbone of the Democrats’ agenda since statehood.

Speaker of the House Todd Hiett and Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee announced that House and Senate Republicans will seek common legislative goals in the upcoming 2005 legislative session.

Hiett and Coffee publicly released an eight point legislative platform recently approved by their respective caucuses.

The recent case of a Republican lawmaker who continued to receive his legislative salary while locked up in jail should never be repeated, Senator Jay Paul Gumm said Tuesday.

Gumm, a Democrat from Durant who is an assistant majority leader in the Senate, has filed legislation that would suspend the pay of any state elected official who is in jail for as long as they are locked up.

Although he agrees there are serious capital needs at Oklahoma colleges and universities, State Senator Jeff Rabon said he has reservations about the idea of using revenues from the new state lottery to pay for a $500 million bond issue to fund those projects.

“First of all, I think when most Oklahomans voted for an education lottery, they were thinking those dollars would go directly into the classrooms of their children’s public schools. I don’t remember anything about using those proceeds to pay for a higher education bond issue,” said Rabon, D-Hugo.