Press Releases

A Weekly Update on all of the Good News about Oklahoma

Because much of the good news about our state is sometimes overlooked by state leaders and others, many positive developments and success stories in Oklahoma go unreported. It is our hope that "Oklahoma Pride," a weekly publication of the Oklahoma Senate, will ensure that the best stories about Oklahoma are told.

For example, this week in Oklahoma, did you know that......

A Weekly Update on all of the Good News about Oklahoma

Because much of the good news about our state is sometimes overlooked by state leaders and others, many positive developments and success stories in Oklahoma go unreported. It is our hope that "Oklahoma Pride," a weekly publication of the Oklahoma Senate, will ensure that the best stories about Oklahoma are told.

For example, this week in Oklahoma, did you know that......

"I know Governor Keating has good intentions, but I'm afraid his version of 4 x 4 would add just one more rule, one more layer of unnecessary bureaucracy to our public schools. Every local school board in Oklahoma already has the power to implement 4 years of math, science and social studies on their own, just as El Reno has done. I don't see why we need another dictate from the state level, ordering local school boards to do something that may not be right for every single student, parent and teacher in Oklahoma.

A Weekly Update on all of the Good News about Oklahoma

Because much of the good news about our state is sometimes overlooked by state leaders and others, many positive developments and success stories in Oklahoma go unreported. It is our hope that "Oklahoma Pride," a weekly publication of the Oklahoma Senate, will ensure that the best stories about Oklahoma are told.

For example, this week in Oklahoma, did you know that......

A Weekly Update on all of the Good News about Oklahoma

Because much of the good news about our state is sometimes overlooked by state leaders and others, many positive developments and success stories in Oklahoma go unreported. It is our hope that "Oklahoma Pride," a weekly publication of the Oklahoma Senate, will ensure that the best stories about Oklahoma are told.

For example, this week in Oklahoma, did you know that......

Saying Governor Keating should pay more than "lip service" to higher education, a Senate budget leader is urging Governor to increase his executive budget for the state college system to closer match the plan proposed by the Oklahoma Senate.

Governor Keating spoke to college backers at Higher Education Day at the State Capitol today.

The chairman of the Senate Education Committee is proposing her own "4 by 4" education program in an effort to better prepare students and teachers for the demands of today's classrooms.

"We need to provide our students and teachers with what they need to succeed. We can't just wave a magic wand, order them to do better and expect it to happen," said Senator Penny Williams.

The Williams "4 by 4" program would pump additional resources into four crucial areas of education:

OKLAHOMA CITY - The State Senate has voted in favor of legislation which would give the public access to information regarding the whereabouts of registered sex offenders. Senator Jerry Smith is author of Senate Bill 723.

"Two years ago we passed a law which required convicted sex offenders to register with local law enforcement, with schools and other childcare providers having access to that information," said Smith, R-Tulsa..

"Now it's time to take the next step. We need to give the public access to that list."

In a continuing effort to prevent Oklahoma's best state employees from jumping to higher-paying jobs in the private sector, Senate budget leaders announced a pay raise program for state employees today.

"The simple fact of the matter is we pay our state employees less to perform the same duties and responsibilities than their counterparts in the private sector do. Consequently, we consistently lose our best workers to better-paying jobs in the private sector," noted Senator Kelly Haney, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Calling the $750 million dollar lease-back road program fiscally unsound, State Senator Dave Herbert today unveiled an alternative funding proposal.

"I'd be among the first to agree that Oklahoma would benefit tremendously from additional infrastructure development. But a lease-back scheme between the Turnpike Authority and the Transportation Department is not the way to go.

"We're going to make a bunch of bond-dealers rich, and risk having to cut programs like education, or turn free-roads into toll-roads," said Herbert, D-Midwest City.