In a ceremony held on Oklahoma’s 109th birthday, 24 new and returning members of the Oklahoma State Senate were sworn into office at the Capitol Wednesday. Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb, President of the Senate, presided over the ceremony. The oath was administered by the Honorable John Reif, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

For the second year in a row, Sen. John Sparks (D-Norman) and Sen. Kay Floyd (D-Oklahoma City) have filed legislation to resolve Oklahoma’s ongoing non-compliance with the Real ID Act of 2005.

State Sen. Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, issued the following statement after the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled pro-life legislation approved in 2015 was unconstitutional because it covered multiple subjects. Treat was principal author of Senate Bill 642.
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The Senate Education Committee Wednesday held an interim study on child sexual abuse in Oklahoma’s schools.

“Creating a safe environment in our schools is a top priority,” said Sen. Kyle D. Loveless (R-Oklahoma City), who requested the study. “As the father of two daughters, I want to know they are safe and learning while at school-that’s why I will continue to work on this issue.”
Much of the study focused on preventing abusers from moving from district to district.
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Nationwide, more than 70 percent of wrongful convictions in criminal cases were tied to misidentification by eyewitnesses. In Oklahoma, that’s the case in about 30 percent of such cases. On Monday, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony on the need for law enforcement to adopt proven methods aimed at improving the reliability of eyewitness identification. State Sen. David Holt requested the interim study.

A child abuse registry created in 2010 to help child care providers screen out potential employees with findings of abuse or neglect has glaring gaps that could leave many Oklahoma children at risk. That’s according to Sen. AJ Griffin, who requested an interim study to look at the issue. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee heard testimony Tuesday about the child abuse registry known as Joshua’s List, named for a two-year-old killed by a family child care home provider. read more.

The Republican and Democratic leaders of the Oklahoma State Senate commented on the passing of former Sen. Sam Helton, D-Lawton:

Oklahoma Legislative Black Caucus chair, Sen. Kevin Matthews, D-Tulsa, issued the following statement Thursday on behalf of the caucus outlining recommendations for law enforcement across the state and calling for peaceful protests following Friday evening’s police shooting of Terence Crutcher.

Oklahoma Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman released the following statement regarding Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Steven Taylor’s decision to retire at the end of this year.

The leader of the Oklahoma Senate announced on Wednesday 36 requests for interim legislative studies. The study requests were approved by Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa.

The studies have been assigned to the Senate committee with jurisdiction over the subject matter contained within the request. The committee chairman will be responsible for scheduling committee meetings on the interim study requests.