State Senator Earl Garrison is looking out for the well-being of young athletes in Oklahoma. On Thursday, the Committee on Health and Human Resources approved Senate Bill 451, which would prohibit non-school-related sports programs for kids thirteen years or younger from holding practice outside or in non-air-conditioned facilities when the heat index is at or above ninety-five degrees.
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Senator Judy Eason McIntyre wants group home residents to have access to healthier foods and activities. The Tulsa senator may get her wish following the approval of her legislation, Senate Bill 618, on Thursday by the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services.
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Oklahoma can no longer afford to ignore the growing crisis of hunger within its borders according to State Senate Andrew Rice, author of SB 499, which would create the Oklahoma Taskforce on Hunger.
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Freshman Senator Files Legislation to Increase Income Limits to $75,000

2006 Jim Thorpe Award winner Aaron Ross, of the University of Texas, was honored on the floor of the state Senate on Monday. The Senate unanimously approved Senate Resolution 5, recognizing and commending the standout defensive back.

As a senior, Ross was tabbed first-team All American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation and the Football Writers Association of America and was selected first-team all Big 12. Ross was also chosen as the University of Texas Defensive MVP.

The Senate Business and Labor Committee on Monday gave approval to a bill that would ban the sale of cough medicine containing dextromethorphan (DXM) as well as spray paint to anyone under the age of 18. State Sen. Charlie Laster is author of Senate Bill 951.
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State Senator Andrew Rice said his measure to protect Oklahoma’s military personnel from predatory lending is dead for the session after failing to receive passage from a Senate committee on Monday.

Rice said Senate Bill 807 would have established safeguards to help consumers, military and non-military citizens from being caught in a cycle of chronic borrowing.

State Sen. Constance N. Johnson has decided against requesting a hearing for Senate Bill 487. The measure would have required all Oklahoma girls entering the sixth grade to be immunized against the human papillomavirus (HPV). In clinical trials the inoculation was 100 percent effective in preventing precancerous cervical conditions caused by the types of HPV included in the vaccine. The vaccine protects against specific strains of HPV which cause 70 percent of all cervical cancers.
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The Oklahoma Legislature must enact meaningful, comprehensive lawsuit reform this year to keep up with states like Texas, which has seen a surge in the number of doctors applying for licenses to practice medicine in the lone star state because of a reform package adopted by Texas voters in 2003, according to a recent news report in the Houston Chronicle newspaper.

If a bill authored by Sen. Mike Mazzei makes it all the way to the Governor’s desk, Oklahoman’s could see both their waistlines and their taxes slim down. It’s one step closer to reality after the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday approved Senate Bill 118 which provides an income tax credit equal to 20 percent of the cost of health or fitness club membership fees.
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