A bill to pay millions to Oklahoma counties owed them because of Ad Valorem reimbursement obligations has won approval by the Senate Finance Committee. Sen. Jeff Rabon is author of Senate Bill 1774. He has long advocated ensuring the reimbursement fund has adequate resources and said he was gratified by Tuesday’s committee vote. The fund was created to reimburse counties for lost property tax revenue due to Ad Valorem breaks and double homestead exemptions.
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Statement by Senator Constance N. Johnson

“Republican opposition to a tax break for the state’s poorest citizens, contrasted with their support for measures, like Senate Bill 2022, that proposes tax cuts for the wealthiest 15 percent of taxpayers, sends a clear message about the need for a paradigm shift about economic disparity in our state.”

State Senator Debbe Leftwich, chair of the Senate Business and Labor Committee, wants more county officials to be part of the budget making process for county budgets.

Leftwich (D-Oklahoma City) filed Senate Bill 1576 known as the “The County Budget Act” which modifies the way a county determines or chooses to be part of the county budget board process.

This bill would expand the number of budget board members to include both county commissioners and other elected county officers.

Senator Debbe Leftwich, chair of the Senate Business and Labor Committee wants to give Oklahoma voters the option of deciding what type of local government they want to have.

Leftwich (D-Oklahoma City) filed Senate Bill 1407 which would give any county in Oklahoma which contains a metropolitan area with a population of 250,000 or more the option to adopt or amend a county home rule charter for county government.

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted Wednesday to send a measure that expands the merit-based Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program to the Senate floor for a vote.

Senate Bill 1993, authored by Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Morgan, calls for raising the maximum income level under which students are eligible to take part in OHLAP from $50,000 to $75,000. The measure would increase the number of students eligible to take part in the program by 20 percent, making 75 percent of the high school students in the state eligible to earn a tuition scholarship.
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Oklahoma is poised to create the nation’s top research and treatment center for diabetes. That’s according to OU President David Boren who addressed the Senate Appropriations Committee in support of Senate Bill 1056. The measure, co-authored by Sen. Cal Hobson and Sen. Glenn Coffee would help fund the start up cost for creating two facilities based on the OU campuses in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. The committee gave its unanimous support to the measure.
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-“This healthy increase (in state tax revenues) comes even though income tax rates were reduced from 6.65 percent to 6.25 percent on January 1.” – State Treasurer Scott Meacham, Journal Record, February 15, 2006

A bill to ensure school-age victims of violence have a greater say in limiting contact with their attacker is headed to the full Senate for consideration. Sen. Charlie Laster is author of SB 1597 which was approved this week by the Senate Education Committee.
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Calling it a victory for Oklahoma taxpayers, State Sen. Scott Pruitt said he was very pleased by the Senate Finance Committee vote on Tuesday approving his legislation to reduce the state income tax rate from 6.25 percent to 4.9 percent. The measure passed with bipartisan support.

Pruitt, R-Broken Arrow, said the bill would enable citizens to keep more of their hard-earned dollars. When fully implemented in 2007, it would represent a tax cut of approximately $480 million a year.
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A bill that has garnered the attention of national media outlets that will gives juries in Oklahoma the option of sentencing repeat child molesters to life without parole or the death penalty received approval of a Senate panel today.

The bill’s author, Senator Jay Paul Gumm, a Democrat from Durant, said he believes the measure will help create a safer Oklahoma, which he says is the government’s greatest obligation to its citizens.
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