OKLAHOMA CITY - A proposed new student loan program could provide some answers for Oklahomans unable to afford a college education while at the same time foster job growth and economic development.

State Senator Gene Stipe (D-McAlester) has filed a bill for the upcoming legislative session to provide tuition loans to state residents attending Oklahoma colleges and universities. Upon graduation and employment at specified companies, the borrower's state income tax would be credited against the borrower's loan obligation.

OKLAHOMA CITY - An important and possibly the most divisive issue facing state lawmakers in the upcoming session of the Legislature is that of animal waste regulation.

State Senator Paul Muegge is at the forefront of this battle between corporate hog and chicken producers and those concerned about the environment. In his capacity as chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Muegge has pledged to find a solution to Oklahoma's animal waste problems.

Two Tulsa legislators are asking the State Regents for Higher Education to delay a January 15th public hearing on the future of Rogers University, saying the Regents have yet to provide RU students and stakeholders with a specific proposal outlining their plans for Tulsa higher education.

Statement by Senator Cal Hobson,
Vice-chairman, Senate Appropriations Committee

"I'm disappointed because I think our Corporation Commissioners missed a golden opportunity to do something significant for the Oklahoma education system and our state as a whole."

Senate Republicans today questioned the authorization of a "Senate" report by the President Pro Tem, Stratton Taylor. "This is not a Senate Position, none of the Republican Caucus members have been contacted to participate in the study. This is a partisan justification for extortion at the expense of taxpayers." said Minority leader Mark Snyder.

Senate President Pro Tem Stratton Taylor, hired a legal consultant Rick Chamberlin to prepare an advocacy paper for the Senate claiming a regulated company's rates are "likely too high".

Statement from Senator Cal Hobson,
Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education

The leader of the State Senate is challenging Southwestern Bell to specifically detail what it alleges are "inaccuracies" in a report that is highly critical of the telephone company's bid to win new regulations for itself.

A new report indicates that Oklahoma consumers may ultimately be the big losers if Southwestern Bell succeeds in obtaining proposed regulatory changes now being deliberated by the State Corporation Commission. The analysis warns that the telephone company, not consumers, is likely to be the biggest beneficiary of the new regulations, preserving its monopoly status while gaining unprecedented authority to set rates for consumers without state oversight.

State Senator Larry Dickerson is calling for Governor Keating to apologize for remarks he made in a recent television interview, saying his comments were both inappropriate and offensive.

In an interview aired on KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City and KHBS-TV in Fort Smith, Arkansas this week, Keating said that methamphetamine is a "white trash drug" used "by the lower socio-economic element of white people." He also referred to crack cocaine as a "black trash drug."

Southwestern Bell's latest offer to give $30 million to education is "peanuts," according to a Senate budget leader who has been pushing for a much more substantial school investment from the telephone company.