A painting depicting the 2007 dedication of the USS Oklahoma Memorial at Pearl Harbor was unveiled at the State Capitol on Wednesday. Sen. Jim Reynolds, who worked with the USS Oklahoma survivors to secure the permanent memorial, said this will forever commemorate not only the lives of the men lost on the ship named for this state, but also, the survivors who never gave up on their dream of creating a memorial for those who died on December 7, 1941.

Following a news conference by Gov. Brad Henry and State Treasurer Scott Meacham, Senate Co-President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma, issued the following statement.

“Our nation is facing economic uncertainty. Thankfully, the Legislature’s conservative fiscal policies of the past two years have put Oklahoma in a much better position than most states to weather this situation. The Senate is working with the House and the governor’s office to ensure that our state government responds appropriately to any economic challenges,” said Coffee.

The effort to require health insurance to cover diagnosis and treatment of autism in children received another grassroots boost this week from one of Oklahoma’s most respected child advocacy organizations.

At its legislative fall forum, the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) placed the issue at the top of its priorities for the 2009 session of the Oklahoma Legislature. The forum, held on the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, brought together child advocates and lawmakers to discuss a variety of issues important to Oklahoma’s children.

State Sen. Todd Lamb, R-Edmond/Oklahoma City, issued the following statement regarding a lawsuit by Nova Health Systems against bipartisan pro-life legislation that overwhelmingly passed by the Legislature in 2008. Lamb is the Senate author of the law, Senate Bill 1878.

“This lawsuit was filed by a pro-abortion fringe group that opposes Oklahoma’s sensible regulations on abortions. Their lawsuit seeks to undo important reforms that provide women with information that helps them give informed consent prior to receiving an abortion,” Lamb said.

Senator Jay Paul Gumm said politicians should not have the power to force consolidation on rural schools. The Democratic Senator from Durant will re-file legislation returning that power to Oklahoma’s voters.

“Rural Oklahoma is the heart and soul of our state, and rural schools are the life force of those communities. Forcing rural schools to consolidate or close against the will of the community would be devastating and threaten the rural way of life,” Gumm said.

The education of future doctors and a study of the business side of medicine would be combined as part of a legislative proposal by State Sen. Jim Wilson. Wilson, D-Tahlequah, said he plans on introducing a measure for the 2009 legislative session to acquire the Oklahoma State University Medical Center (OSUMC) in Tulsa which would result in a permanent location for the residency program, including the emergency room program.

With more states across the nation considering and passing legislation requiring insurance companies to cover treatment for autism, Sen. Jay Paul Gumm is vowing a renewed effort next session to pass similar legislation in Oklahoma.

Gumm is the author of “Nick’s Law,” the bill that would have required health insurance companies to cover diagnosis and treatment of autism. The measure received strong support in the State Senate by both Republicans and Democrats, but was stopped by House Republicans.
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Hello again, everybody! Few have been as critical as I have of decisions made by House Speaker Chris Benge. He got that criticism the old-fashioned way: he earned it.

His decision to deny even a vote to the autism insurance bill will go down as one of the most ill-advised and unfortunate decisions ever made by any Speaker of the House. That decision hurt families struggling to care for autistic children.

State Senator Don Barrington, the author of Oklahoma’s back-to-school sales tax holiday, said an increase in sales tax revenues for the month of August show that the tax holiday was a huge success for the second year in a row.

Barrington, R-Lawton, praised the sales tax holiday for providing savings to Oklahoma families, and for giving a boost to Oklahoma’s economy that helped increase overall sales tax revenues.

State Sen. Kathleen Wilcoxson announced Wednesday that she has retired from her seat in the upper chamber and is returning to her first callingeducation. Wilcoxson has accepted a position as a Title I elementary teacher in the Western Heights School District located in southwest Oklahoma City.