Sen. Keith Leftwichs effort to eliminate annoying telemarketing calls has cleared another legislative hurdle. SB 950 received final passage in the Senate Tuesday.

The Telemarketer Restriction Act creates a list of Oklahoma residents who do not wish to receive unsolicited telemarketing phone calls. The statewide registry will be maintained by the Attorney Generals office.

This bill is now one step closer to becoming law, said Senator Leftwich. SB 950 is now on its way to the Governors office for his signature.

Oklahoma is among the first states in the nation to pass legislation regulating Human Transporters with passage of SB 1473. The device, nick-named Ginger when it was first unveiled last year, is a revolutionary, pedestrian-friendly, battery-powered, self-balancing 2-wheel device with built-in gyroscope stabilizers. Senator Glenn Coffee, R-OKC and Representative David Braddock, D-Altus are authors of the measure.

(Oklahoma City) During the last decade, Oklahoma did more to increase teacher salaries than almost any other state in the country, according to new statistics released by the National Education Association.

From the 1990-91 to 2000-01 school year, Oklahoma ranked 6th highest in the country for the percentage increase it granted in teacher salaries. When adjusted for inflation during that 10-year period, teacher pay rose by 8.2 percent in Oklahoma, well above the national average of just 0.5 percent, according to the NEA.

Senator Carol Martin said she is disappointed with this weeks ruling by the State Supreme Court that an initiative petition she headed to have English declared the official language of Oklahoma was ruled unconstitutional.

"Not only do I disagree with the question of its constitutionality, I also believe the ruling of the court was premature. "I believe that the Supreme Court was quite zealous in their ruling in that the people of Oklahoma have not yet had an opportunity to vote on the petition and further considering the fact that we withdrew our petition," said Senator Martin.

Statement by Senator Stratton Taylor,
Senate President Pro Tempore

"Unlike Mr. Daxon, we agree with the statements made by Governor Keating. As Governor Keating said Tuesday, the budget agreement forged by legislative leaders is an excellent first step. As the governor also pointed out, the legislative proposal has many similarities to Governor Keating's original budget in the sense that it protects such important programs as education, health, veterans and mental health.

(Oklahoma City) Legislative leaders have reached a budget agreement that would protect public education and a variety of health care programs from the budget axe, in addition to funding an increase in health benefits for teachers and education support personnel.

In order to accomplish those goals and still balance the state budget, however, state reserve funds would have to be tapped and the bulk of state agencies would be forced to absorb a 5 percent budget reduction in the coming fiscal year, according to legislative leaders.

OKLAHOMA CITY - A bill moving through the legislative process that is intended to boost the calcium-fortified foods offered in Oklahoma school cafeterias may be confused with another bill aimed at curbing vending machine in schools, according to Senator Paul Muegge, D-Tonkawa.

Senate Bill 1229, authored by Muegge and Representative Al Lindley, emphasizes the importance of dairy and calcium consumption in young Oklahomans.

OKLAHOMA CITY Making a move to help keep a one-cent gas tax bill that would fund the future of high speed rail for Oklahoma alive, Senator Dave Herbert is shifting the legislation to a different committee.

According to the Midwest City legislator, Senate Joint Resolution 4 will move out of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee when the gas tax language is changed into a new piece of legislation. The new legislation will becomes SJR 36 and will be moved to the House Rules Committee where Herbert has been assured a hearing next week.

Oklahomas bid to create a world class Native American Museum and Cultural Center cleared an important funding hurdle Friday when the U.S. Senate authorized $33 million federal construction funding.

I am very pleased to see that the Senate has passed this authorization bill, said State Senator Kelly Haney, a leader in creating the state and local partnership to build the center. We anticipate the center will become the number-one tourist attraction in all of Oklahoma.

OKLAHOMA CITY – High-speed rail service connecting Oklahoma's two largest metropolitan areas will be at the top of the discussion list at an April 2nd joint meeting of the House and Senate Transportation Committees, announced Senator Dave Herbert, D- Midwest City.

The meeting is expected to focus on a high-speed rail corridor study between Tulsa and Oklahoma City, allowing passengers to travel at speeds in excess of 150 mph.