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.

Legislation to make Oklahoma’s schools and campuses safer is gaining national attention. State Sen. Todd Lamb was a featured speaker at the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) conference this month in Phoenix, Arizona.
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State Sen. Debbe Leftwich said a new law to help curtail attacks on women marks a significant change in how Oklahoma deals with domestic violence. Leftwich was present when Gov. Brad Henry conducted a ceremonial bill signing of SB 2163 at the State Capitol on Wednesday. Leftwich said the statute will take advantage of Global Positioning System Technology (GPS) to better protect domestic abuse victims.
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Hello again, everybody! The biggest battle in the Legislature last session was our fight to require health insurance to cover autism.

Now that campaign season is fully underway, that fight is being played out in campaigns across the state. Dozens of candidates for the Legislature – of both political parties – are announcing their full-throated support for “Nick’s Law,” while those who oppose it are desperately scrambling for any political cover they can find.

With a 30 percent employee vacancy rate facing Oklahoma’s correctional facilities, Sens. Kenneth Corn and Richard Lerblance plan to file legislation that will allow the state to offer retention bonuses to longtime employees of the Department of Corrections.

Corn said that while providing additional incentives to improve recruitment is necessary, the state must ensure that longtime employees are adequately compensated for their years of service.