State Senator Dave Herbert has unveiled a master plan for the expansion of passenger rail service in Oklahoma that would link Tulsa, Oklahoma City and northern Oklahoma with Amtrak lines running the length of the country.

The three-phase program is contingent on the passage of SJR 37, a proposal by Sen. Herbert that would ask Oklahoma voters to temporarily raise the state gas tax by one-cent and use the revenue to expand rail service.

State Senator Dave Herbert will unveil a proposed blueprint for the expansion of passenger rail service in Oklahoma. The plan would link Oklahoma's two major metro areas and northern Oklahoma with high-speed rail lines that would also tie in would link with Amtrak lines running the length of the country.

The plan will formally be unveiled at a State Capitol news conference on Monday.

Oklahoma veterans programs will receive less federal funding than expected next year, a development that makes Governor Keating's proposed cuts to the state veterans budget even more damaging than previously thought, according to a State Senator who has been leading the fight against the reductions.

Legislation that would drastically reduce the fees Oklahoma motorists pay for their annual car tags has cleared Senate Committee and is headed to the full Senate for consideration.

The Senate Finance Committee approved two tag reduction bills Tuesday, HB 2663 by Senator Jim Maddox and Representative Ron Kirby and HB 2189 by Senate President Pro Tempore Stratton Taylor and House Speaker Loyd Benson. The latter measure is a "shell" bill that may ultimately be used as a vehicle for compromise tag legislation.

In light of indications that there are enough votes in the state Senate to bring the right-to-work question to a statewide vote, Senate Republican Leader Mark Snyder (R-Edmond) called on Senate President Pro Tempore Stratton Taylor (D-Claremore) to allow a Senate floor vote on the matter.

Snyder pointed to the State Chamber's announcement that 25 state Senators - 15 Republicans and 10 Democrats - already have pledged that they would vote for the measure, thus ensuring enough votes for Senate passage.

Statement by Senator Stratton Taylor, Senate President Pro Tempore

"Dick Rush and the Chamber know how the legislative process works. When a bill is defeated in committee, it is dead for the session. Their performance has more to do with politics than anything else."

OKLAHOMA CITY - A painting by Oklahoma artist R.T. Foster will be unveiled at the State Capitol Monday. The work portrays the sooner state's highest scoring fighter pilot of World War II. That's according to Senator Charles Ford of Tulsa, President of the Oklahoma Historical Preservation Fund, Inc.

The painting will be dedicated during a ceremony in the Senate Chambers on Monday, March 20, at 1:45 p.m.

Statement by Senator Stratton Taylor,
Senate President Pro Tempore

All Oklahomans will be able to hold their HMOs legally responsible for health care decisions under patients' rights legislation approved by the Oklahoma State Senate Wednesday.

SB 1206 by Senator Brad Henry would allow members to sue their HMO if it improperly denied them necessary medical treatment ordered by their treating physician or made other health care decisions that were found to be detrimental to them. The measure easily passed the Senate 41-4 with bipartisan support.

The State Senate has taken court action to preserve an insurance rebate that would reward thousands of Oklahoma businesses and pay off approximately 6,000 injured workers in the process.