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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Senate Co-President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee commented on a lawsuit reform bill authored by Democrat Sen. Susan Paddack of Ada Tuesday. Senate Bill 824 won passage in the Senate Judiciary Committee on a bipartisan 7 to 1 vote.

“This bill is a small step toward the lawsuit reform our state desperately needs, and Senate Republicans look forward to working with Sen. Paddack to achieve meaningful lawsuit reform this session,” stated Coffee, R-Oklahoma City.

A bill that would put a larger protective barrier around grieving families of war casualties received a unanimous vote today in a Senate committee.

Senate Bill 756 would increase the distance protesters at funerals must be from ceremonies and cemeteries; the measure also would triple the time before and after the ceremony when protests would be allowed. The measure was approved without opposition by the Senate Judiciary Committee and next will be considered by the full Senate.
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State Sen. Kathleen Wilcoxson is well acquainted with the foster care system in Oklahoma. She and her husband, Lynden, opened their home and their hearts to a foster child whom they later adopted. Now Sen. Wilcoxson is hoping to bring attention to the need for others to do the same. Wilcoxson and the Foster Care Association of Oklahoma (F.C.A.O.) have teamed up to give the Governor, Lt. Governor and every member of the House and Senate a foster doll to care for until May.

Leaving a child alone in a vehicle can be deadly—especially in the summertime. Yet every year there are tragic reports about children and infants dying after being left alone in hot cars. Sen. Susan Paddack is hoping to decrease such incidents with SB 551, the Forget-Me-Not Vehicle Safety Act. The measure was approved by the Senate Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday.
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