The Senate has voted unanimously to expand Oklahoma’s Child Abuse Response Team (CART) program. First launched in 2005, the program uses investigators who are highly trained in investigating child abuse, including forensic interviews of children and case development for prosecution, to oversee and coordinate the investigation of such cases.

Sen. Kim David is principal author of Senate Bill 639 which would expand the number of CART investigators at the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI).
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A measure to help better address suicide in the state will soon be law. Gov. Fallin signed Senate Bill 181 last week. The measure, by Sen. Kim David, will extend the Oklahoma Suicide Prevention Council until 2020 as well as increase the number of members to represent the special needs of more citizens in the state.
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On Thursday, the Oklahoma State Senate honored the 2013-2014 National Youth Ambassador for the American Indian Health Research and Education Alliance (AIHREA). Cierra Fields, a Cherokee native and 8th grader from Fort Gibson, was diagnosed with Melanoma at the age of 4 and spent her fifth birthday on the operating table. Her 14th birthday was different, however, as Cierra had the opportunity to share a special message with members of the Senate both in Cherokee and English.
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State Sen. Kim David said Friday that legislation to make Insure Oklahoma 100 percent state-funded will prevent 9,000 hard-working Oklahomans from losing their health insurance. David, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, said the plan is expected to be signed out of a Senate conference committee on Monday. However, before the language can be heard by the full Senate, House conferees must also approve the legislation.
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On Thursday, the State Senate approved Senate Resolution 41 declaring Friday, February 7th as Wear Red Day in Oklahoma. The resolution, by Sen. Kim David, is an effort to support the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Go Red for Women program to help bring awareness to one of the state’s top killers, heart disease.
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Earlier this week, the Senate Appropriations Committee gave unanimous approval to a measure seeking to lower Oklahoma’s high female incarceration rate. Senate Bill 1278, by Sen. Kim David, would authorize the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) to enter into a Pay-for-Success (PFS) contract pilot program for those criminal justice programs that have had proven outcomes with reducing public sector costs associated with female incarceration.
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For years, Oklahoma has locked up more women per capita than any state in the country. These women often leave behind children who are at greater risk for eventually becoming a part of the corrections system themselves. This session State Sen. Kim David is championing legislation authorizing a new pilot program to keep nonviolent female offenders out of prison. On Wednesday, the full Senate gave unanimous approval to her legislation, Senate Bill 1278, co-authored by Senate Minority Leader Sean Burrage.

Oklahoma could see its incarceration rates, especially those among nonviolent female offenders, decrease in the coming years thanks to a new innovative alternative-to-incarceration pilot program approved by the governor Tuesday. Senate Bill 1278, by Sen. Kim David and Rep. Leslie Osborn, will create a “Pay-for-Success” contract pilot program to help nonviolent female offenders get the substance abuse treatment, counseling and other services they need to become self-sufficient, productive citizens.
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Every year, state agency heads and their staff come to the Capitol for annual budget hearings—it gives them an opportunity to explain to lawmakers how the dollars they receive are used as well as giving legislators a chance to ask about funding priorities and other related issues. Those hearings are now underway in the Senate.

Senate Appropriations Chair Kim David said this year some of those hearings will take place in state agencies headquarters and facilities, rather than in committee rooms at the Capitol.
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“I commend Governor Fallin on a speech that discussed her vision of how to build a stronger Oklahoma. My colleagues in the Senate and I look forward to learning more about her budget proposals and other policy goals as the session moves forward. Senate Republicans have a shared commitment to putting Oklahoma on a sustainable, long-term path to success. The Senate Republican agenda lays out our vision of how to build a more prosperous state. It begins with growing the economy, investing in our students and teachers, and ensuring our state’s health and safety. read more.