Members of the Tulsa Senate delegation are questioning the State Regents' decision to build a new higher education bureaucracy in Tulsa before addressing the academic needs of the area. At a meeting last week, the State Regents began the process of hiring new administrators for the proposed OU/OSU-Tulsa, even though pending enabling legislation mandates that academic improvements take place before such an institution can be created.

There is ample higher education funding already available to create a new state university in Tulsa, according to a Senate analysis commissioned by a Tulsa area lawmaker. The statistics indicate current higher education appropriations will support a four-year university in Tulsa.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Praising his many accomplishments in both the public and private sectors, The Oklahoma State Senate paid tribute this week to former State Senator H.B. Atkinson. Atkinson passed away on January 27.

Adkinson's many achievements were recounted in the chamber where he served from 1965 through 1970, with the passage of Senate Resolution 49.

Senator Dave Herbert was among those paying tribute to Atkinson.

Oklahoma's wealthiest citizens would be the biggest beneficiaries of Governor Keating's proposed income tax cut, according to a new analysis by the Senate staff. The study indicates almost 80 percent of the $777 million tax reduction would go to less than one-quarter of Oklahoma taxpayers, those who make more than $50,000 a year.

OKLAHOMA CITY - It appears that a proposal to encourage greater teenage participation in driver's education may face little opposition this legislative session. Senators Keith Leftwich (D-Oklahoma City) and Herb Rozell (D-Tahlequah) conducted a public hearing on the issue at the State Capitol this morning.

"I am very pleased by the response to this proposal," said Senator Leftwich. "We are gaining support for this driver's ed package from nearly every sector of society. Education, parents, business, and many others are voicing their enthusiastic support."

Saying Governor Keating is using "election year gimmickry and creative accounting procedures" to make his budget balance, a Senate budget leader is raising concerns about some of the funding sources cited in the executive budget.

"Red flags always go up when the state chief executive makes a lot of expensive promises in a tight budget year. When the promises outweigh the money, you've got a problem. I would say the Governor's budget has a big problem, especially in the pension area," said Senator Darryl Roberts, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education.

A controversial, cost-shifting education program drafted by the Governor's office will get a full review from a key legislative committee in the coming weeks, according to the leader of the Oklahoma State Senate.

An educational version of the Rural Economic Action Plan (REAP) launched in 1997 is being introduced by Senator Frank Shurden. The Henryetta Senator has authored a bill aimed at helping smaller and rural school districts in Oklahoma secure funding for capital improvements and updated equipment.

Statement by Senator Stratton Taylor
Senate President Pro Tempore

"No matter what face the Governor's office tries to put on it, I don't know anyone who thinks that cutting school lunches, cramming more kids into classrooms or firing teachers is going to improve our public schools. No other state has taken that approach because it's unbelievably bad policy. The report and its suggestions are just as crazy today as they were
yesterday."

Statement by Senator Stratton Taylor
Senate President Pro Tempore

"This may be Governor Keating's idea of a Christmas present to Oklahoma teachers, but it looks more like an April Fool's joke to me. It's really hard to give any proposal serious consideration that suggests funding teacher pay raises by cutting school lunches, packing more kids into the classroom and firing other teachers. I'd like to think of some charitable way to describe the report, but 'crazy' is about the only word that comes to mind."