Thursday, January 14 marks the deadline for members of the Oklahoma State Senate to file legislation for the 2010 session, the second of the 52nd Legislature. By 5 p.m., 942 bills and 26 joint resolutions had been filed, with staff members expected to work into the evening filing the final measures. Final figures will be released on Friday.

Members of the public can read and download current legislation by going to the official State Senate website at www.oksenate.gov and following the link for legislation at the top of the homepage.
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Bill filing has ended for the 2010 legislative session. Thursday, January 14 was the deadline for members of the Oklahoma State Senate to file legislation for the second session of the 52nd Legislature, with 1082 bills and 28 joint resolutions filed. In 2009, Senators filed 1,240 bills and 42 joint resolutions for the upcoming session. Of those, 860 Senate Bills and 38 Senate Joint Resolutions are still alive for the 2010 session. read more.

Sen. Dan Newberry on Monday criticized President Barack Obama’s proposal of a 10-year tax on the country’s largest banks to cover a projected $117 billion shortfall in the federal government’s Financial Crisis Bailout Fund. Newberry said the proposal would be counterproductive to economic recovery.

The tax would be levied against approximately 50 of the nation’s largest financial institutions, regardless of whether they have received funds through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Institutions which have already repaid TARP funds would also be subject to the new tax.

One of the most important tools in improving Oklahoma's economy is to increase the number of students who graduate from high school and college. That's according to Sen. John Ford, who has filed legislation requiring schools to set specific goals to increase graduation rates.

State Sen. Kenneth Corn  is calling for “immediate action the first week of the legislative session” on his proposal to restore nearly $4.7 million in budget cuts made late last year to senior citizen nutrition meal programs around the state.

OKLAHOMA CITY –Republicans in the Oklahoma State Senate released the second section of their 2010 Legislative agenda today, focusing on the areas of Public Safety and Transportation.

In this challenging financial climate, Senate Republicans are working to bring new and better jobs to Oklahoma and provide for a more favorable business climate and better way of life for all Oklahomans, including keeping our citizens safe, and continued improvement of our transportation system.

OKLAHOMA CITY – State Sen. Debbe Leftwich applauded Gov. Brad Henry’s executive order to prohibit state employees from texting while driving. The prohibition would ban texting when public employees are driving on state business.

“This is a great start. Studies have shown texting while driving can be as dangerous as drunk driving—but this executive order only applies to state employees,” said Leftwich, D-Oklahoma City. “I will continue to push for passage of Senate Bill 900, which would ban teenagers from texting while behind the wheel.”

OKLAHOMA CITY—“Senate Republicans again today failed to address the elephant in the room and ignored the pressing issue on the minds of all Oklahomans - ‘What will be done this session to get us out of the horrible budget crisis?’”

“It’s truly bizarre. For the second week in row, Senate Republicans gather in a room to share “new” ideas, which are anything but new, and continue to show a lack of basic leadership on the one issue that has to be addressed immediately—creating a new budget to finish this year in the midst of a billion dollar shortfall.

Oklahoma could more aggressively punish convicted sex offenders under legislation filed by Sen. Dan Newberry.

“The heartbreaking nature of these crimes demand a stronger approach to sentencing and punishment,” said Newberry, R-Tulsa. “Abuse, exploitation and kidnapping are crimes that tear families apart and permanently impact the lives of far too many vulnerable people. These measures would bring us a step closer to appropriate punishments for such heinous offenses.”