The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved a measure aimed to break cycles of violence that can lead to the children of inmates eventually becoming inmates themselves. Senator Debbe Leftwich is the principal author of Senate Bill 448. This bill would require the judge to have written findings related to the placement of the children of inmates who are single custodial parents, most of whom are women.
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The State Senate honored the country’s first female Rock and Roll singer Tuesday. Senate Resolution 6 congratulated Wanda Jackson on her lifetime of success in the music industry as well as being the first Oklahoma woman to be inducted into the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame.
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The Senate General Government Committee on Tuesday approved legislation that would require contractors to have general liability and workers’ compensation insurance before they can be issued residential building permits.

The Oklahoma City Democrat said the measure would provide protection for homeowners.

State Sen. Johnnie Crutchfield, D-Ardmore, said he will do everything he can to coordinate assistance at the state and federal level after a deadly February storm system left more than two dozen injured or dead in his district. As of 10 a.m., the official death toll stood at 8, but Crutchfield said 30 people were unaccounted for. Multiple homes and buildings were destroyed with the community of Lone Grove hardest hit by the deadly storm.
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The full Senate is the next stop for legislation to ensure disabled vets get a sales tax exemption guaranteed by state law.

Senator Jay Paul Gumm introduced legislation that would put even more teeth in a current state law that entitles Oklahoma veterans with a 100 percent service-connected disability to a sales tax exemption on purchases of up to $25,000 a year. The lawmaker said some retailers have been refusing to honor the exemption.
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Being an Army veteran and living in a military city, Sen. Don Barrington knows all too well the sacrifices made by Oklahoma's military personnel and their families. For this reason, he authored SB 489 to expand the sales tax exemption for 100% disabled veterans to include sales to the surviving spouses of deceased qualified veterans.
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Senate Bill 452 by Senator Mike Schulz, R-Altus, passed out of the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee on Monday, calling for adequate protection of livestock throughout Oklahoma.

The provisions in Senate Bill 452 limit the power of political subdivisions in Oklahoma when dealing with the care and handling of livestock. Local legislation in violation of this bill is void and unenforceable. However, Schulz says the intent of the legislation is not to preempt a city’s ability to zone.

The Senate Appropriations Committee passed two bills which are part of the Senate Republican legislative agenda today. SB646 and SB980, which would form the state Office of Accountability and Innovation; and a state Chief Information Officer respectively, are authored by Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee.

“When passed and signed into law, these two new offices will greatly enhance the efficiency of state government,” said Coffee.

As many as 26,000 Oklahoma veterans are uninsured, but that could soon change thanks to the efforts of State Sen. Andrew Rice. The Oklahoma City Democrat’s legislation, Senate Bill 59, was unanimously approved Wednesday by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
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The Senate Appropriations Committee passed a measure Wednesday that could provide tuition assistance to more Oklahoma students. SB 354, by Sen. David Myers, would expand the OHLAP program by allowing the income requirement to be based on a family’s yearly salary or a three-year average.
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