Preliminary sales tax receipts from August show that Oklahoma’s Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday increased state revenues by boosting economic activity, according to the chief legislative proponent of the measure.

Senator Jay Paul Gumm said that while saving parents millions of dollars on school clothing for their children, the three-day event in early August stimulated revenue growth for the state, exactly as supporters expected.

State Sen. Kathleen Wilcoxson stood at her desk in the Senate Chamber and explained how the members debated and voted on bills. She laughed that some of her fellow Senators had given her a wooden soap box to stand on so she could be seen when she addressed the Chamber because she was the shortest of the 48 members. It all was part of a State Capitol tour on Thursday for Afghan business women visiting the United States.

Outrage and disappointment were the reactions of one legislator in response to the decision by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to overturn the death penalty in the Trooper Nikky Joe Green murder trial.

State Sen. Jonathan Nichols, R-Norman, blasted the Court’s decision to reverse the imposition of the death penalty for Green’s killer, Ricky Ray Malone, in part because Green’s widow referenced God and the Bible.

A group of Afghan business women will tour the Oklahoma State Capitol on Thursday, September 6. The group will be hosted by Sen. Kathleen Wilcoxson, R-Oklahoma City. Wilcoxson said the tour would begin at 12:45 at the tourism desk on the first floor of the Capitol.

State Sen. David Myers on Tuesday said he was unsure why State Treasurer Scott Meacham was speaking out against the proposed coal-powered electrical plant near Red Rock. Myers is the Co-Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural Resources and Regulatory Services.

It’s going to take bold action to dramatically increase the number of college graduates in Oklahoma—that’s according to State Sen. Kenneth Corn who has unveiled a landmark legislative proposal that would essentially create a K-14 education program in Oklahoma.

A truck carrying the first shipment of marble markers for the USS Oklahoma Memorial at Pearl Harbor pulled away from the State Capitol on Thursday escorted by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and members of state and national bikers’ organizations. The 429 markers are engraved with the names of each of the men who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

With National Teen Driver Safety Week underway, Oklahomans can be thankful that the number of accidents involving teen drivers has plummeted since the adoption of a graduated driver license law in 2005, according to Senate author Debbe Leftwich.

Statistics from the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office show that in 2006, there were 444 fewer teen accidents than in the previous year, and nine fewer fatal wrecks.

The first shipment of marble markers bearing the names of the 429 men who died on the USS Oklahoma will soon be headed to California. From there they’ll be sent by ship to Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii to complete the national monument for the USS Oklahoma which will be dedicated this December. State Sen. Jim Reynolds, who has been working with USS Oklahoma survivors on this project for the past several years, said there will be a brief ceremony at the South Plaza of the State Capitol next Thursday to mark the occasion.

Statement by Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Morgan (D-Stillwater)

“The rule adopted today by the Oklahoma Health Care Authority allowing prenatal care for innocent unborn babies sends an important message about our values here in Oklahoma.
“Access to prenatal care gives babies the opportunity to have a healthy start to their life.