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.

State Senator Earl Garrison, D-Muskogee, is hosting the inaugural Green Country Alternative Energy Expo at the Muskogee County Fairgrounds Oct. 2-4 bringing together experts from all across the state to discuss alternative fuel, energy research and options.

Members of the Oklahoma State Senate are scheduling visits to local schools in their districts. It’s part of “America’s Legislators Back to School,” a program sponsored by the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) aimed at helping children and teens learn more about government and representative democracy.
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Lt. Gov. Jari Askins and Tom Price, Chesapeake Energy’s senior vice-president for investor and government relations, will be the keynote speakers at the inaugural Green Country Alternative Expo to be held Oct. 2-4 at the Muskogee County Fairgrounds, which is bringing together experts from all across the state to discuss alternative fuel, energy research and options.

Data from the Oklahoma Tax Commission show that the state’s individual income tax collections grew slightly for Fiscal Year 2008, which concluded on June 30, the co-chairman of the State Senate Finance Committee noted today.

“There were a lot of dire predictions by opponents of tax relief that income tax cuts would drastically shrink income tax revenues. But the facts tell a different story – revenues from individual income taxes continue to grow,” said State Sen. Mike Mazzei, R-Tulsa.

District 31 State Senator Don Barrington wants to expand the Back to School Sales Tax Holiday to include basic school supplies. Barrington said all signs point to last weekend’s Sales Tax Holiday being a resounding success.

Barrington successfully enacted the Back to School Sales Tax Holiday law in 2007 after years of failed attempts by other legislators. Under the current law, created by Barrington’s Senate Bill 861, clothing and shoes valued at less than $100 can be purchased free of sales tax during the first weekend in August.