Senate Democratic Leader John Sparks (D-Norman) released the following statement on behalf of the Senate Democratic Caucus:

“The Senate Democratic Caucus urges Governor Fallin to call the legislature into special session to address issues related to medical marijuana. Today’s letter from Attorney General Mike Hunter to Health Department Interim Director Tom Bates clearly concludes the Board of Health approved medical marijuana rules exceeding its statutory authority.

OKLAHOMA CITY The legislature approved much-needed pay raises for teachers and school support staff this year. Sen. Rob Standridge and other legislators are growing concerned after hearing plans by multiple districts that want to give their administrators pay raises meant for support staff. The legislators want to ensure the pay raises are dispersed correctly and want to encourage the public to hold local school boards and administrators accountable as these decisions are made in the next few weeks and months.

Senate Democratic Leader John Sparks released the following statement on the grand jury report and performance audit of the Oklahoma State Department of Health:

Sen. A.J. Griffin and Rep. Harold Wright applauded the signing of SB 1516, a continuation of the Lay Caregivers Act, which was passed in 2014. The Lay Caregivers Act allows hospital patients to designate a lay caregiver upon formal admission to a hospital facility and requires hospitals to notify the designated caregiver of the patients discharge to the patients residence or another licensed facility. The law also requires hospitals to consult with designated caregivers regarding the aftercare needs of hospital patients.

In response to multiple media inquiries regarding Senate Bill 1203 and the story in yesterdays Sunday Oklahoman, Senator Anthony Sykes, R-Moore, issued the following statement today:

Senate Democratic Leader John Sparks released the following statement on behalf of the Senate Democratic Caucus:

“After a decade of failed tax cuts and revenue failures, this session the legislature finally started to change course. For the first time in recent memory the legislature acted on new revenue and the enacted budget does not include cuts to state agencies. While this is an improvement, we should not be celebrating simply because we are beginning to repair the damage.

More Oklahoma Lottery improvements became law this year, including a bill projected to increase education funding by up to $6.5 million a year by allowing lottery tickets to be bought with debit cards.

Senate Bill 1303, by Senate Assistant Majority Floor Leader Eddie Fields and Rep. Chad Caldwell, modernizes lottery player convenience by allowing debit card purchases of lottery tickets at lottery retailers. The bill was signed by Gov. Mary Fallin on Wednesday.

The Oklahoma Senate on Wednesday approved a $7.6 billion general appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2019 that gives significant funding increases for common education, mental health services, child welfare programs, and criminal justice reform.

On Wednesday, the Senate approved legislation to slow the rapid growth of opioid addiction in Oklahoma. Sen. A.J. Griffin is the Senate author of House Bill 2798 that creates the Opioid Overdose Fatality Review Board and House Bill 2931 to require the use of electronic prescribing for all scheduled drugs.

The full Senate gave final approval Wednesday to a measure addressing the over-prescription of opioids in Oklahoma—the prescription drug is now the leading cause of fatal overdoses in the state. Sen. Anthony Sykes, R-Moore, is the principal author of Senate Bill 1446.