Senator Paxton to lead Public Safety Committee

OKLAHOMA CITY – Sen. Lonnie Paxton has been named Chairman of the Senate Public Safety Committee this week by Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City. The Tuttle Republican has been a strong advocate for Oklahoma law enforcement, authoring laws to improve training, protect officers’ disability benefits and address other areas to enhance public safety.

“I want to thank Pro Tem Treat for entrusting me to lead this committee. Given what has happened nationally, the work of this committee will be more important than ever. I’m extremely passionate about protecting the safety of our communities and citizens while also ensuring we support our brave law enforcement officers,” Paxton said. “This session, we’ll be working to create statewide uniform hiring and training standards for law enforcement agencies at all levels. This will ensure these individuals are fully prepared for all situations regardless if it’s in a major metropolitan city or a rural community. An officer’s skills and training shouldn’t differ based on where they work, and we hope this will also help agencies be able to better work together.”

Paxton will also serve on Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety and Judiciary as well as the Business Commerce and Tourism, Judiciary, and Rules Committees.

“As a businessman, I’m also looking forward to my new role on the Business Committee. Between the struggling energy sector and the pandemic, Oklahoma’s business community has been hit hard and continues to suffer. We don’t know when or what assistance the federal government may provide, so it’s imperative that we, in the state legislature, do all we can to listen to the needs of Oklahoma employers and businesses and ensure they’re able to stay open and not only survive this difficult time, but grow and be successful.”

The Legislature will convene for an organizational day on Tuesday, Jan. 5, and the 1^st Session of the 58^th Legislature will kick off on Monday, Feb. 1. 

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For more information contact: Sen. Paxton: (405) 521-5537 or Lonnie.Paxton@oksenate.gov