The leading cause of unintentional death in the U.S. is from drug overdoses, killing more than 64,000 people each year. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved three measures Wednesday authored by Sen. A.J. Griffin and Rep. Tim Downing to address the growing health epidemic. The bills were among the eight legislative recommendations made by the Oklahoma Commission on Opioid Abuse that Griffin created through legislation in 2016.
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The Oklahoma Senate on Tuesday approved a slate of criminal justice reform bills that will slow the state’s skyrocketing incarceration rates while still keeping communities safe.
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Senate Floor Leader Greg Treat discusses the 11th week of session.

General Appropriations Bill Overview

The Oklahoma Senate on Wednesday approved a $7.6 billion general appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2019 that gives significant funding increases for common education, mental health services, child welfare programs, and criminal justice reform.
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Senate Democratic Leader John Sparks released the following statement:

“Today the Oklahoma Senate approved a Fiscal Year 2019 general appropriations bill that was released to the public less than forty-eight hours ago. The rush to adjourn the legislative session early provided very little opportunity for legislators to review the budget proposal and consider its full impact.

On Wednesday, the Senate approved legislation to slow the rapid growth of opioid addiction in Oklahoma. Sen. A.J. Griffin is the Senate author of House Bill 2798 that creates the Opioid Overdose Fatality Review Board and House Bill 2931 to require the use of electronic prescribing for all scheduled drugs.
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The full Senate gave final approval Wednesday to a measure addressing the over-prescription of opioids in Oklahoma—the prescription drug is now the leading cause of fatal overdoses in the state. Sen. Anthony Sykes, R-Moore, is the principal author of Senate Bill 1446.
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Senate Democratic Leader John Sparks released the following statement on behalf of the Senate Democratic Caucus:

“It is an observed custom of the Senate that a guest chaplain be invited to deliver a brief five minute sermon to the Senate on the last day of session for the week. This morning, Pastor Bill Ledbetter of Fairview Baptist Church in Durant, who has served as guest chaplain for the week at the invitation of Senator Josh Brecheen, delivered a sermon which was hateful and promoted his personal political agenda.

Oklahoma leads 25 other states in the percentage of citizen’s personal income spent on welfare but is only higher than eight other states in the percentage spent on education funding. Sen. Josh Brecheen wants the state to shift its funding priorities.
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