Riley Mining Bill Approved by State Senate

Bill Now Heads to Governor Henry for His Signature

Crossing party lines and teaming up with her Republican counterparts to speed up the legislative process for a bill aimed at making government more efficient, State Senator Nancy Riley applauded the teamwork behind her bill that passed the Senate on Monday making the mining application process less burdensome for local communities. The bill now goes to the Governor for his signature before becoming law.

"With the passage of Senate Bill 706, we allow Oklahoma communities to be responsible for their development," Riley said. "Every mining application process is time consuming and costly and this bill allows municipal governments to limit duplicate applications to speed up that time consuming process that often times is seen as a burden to both businesses and local governments. It also allows the city to be compensated upfront for applications and permit expenses involved with a special use permits.

Riley said she believes in protecting the ability of municipalities to make decisions that are in the best interest of their community members. She said one way to do that is to alleviate the lengthy and repeat applications that authorize the same process.

"Doing so is simply smart government," Riley said. "I am thankful that I was able to cross party lines and work in a bi-partisan fashion to help bring a more efficient government for our citizens."