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- Senate Democrat Leaders Deny Hearing for GOP Lawsuit Reform Bill

Trial lawyers have won an early victory in the lawsuit reform battle at the State Capitol, thanks to some help from their Democrat allies in the Oklahoma State Senate.

Sen. Charles Laster, the Democrat chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, did not hear the Republicans’ meaningful lawsuit reform bill, Senate Bill 1857, at Tuesday’s Judiciary Committee meeting, effectively killing the measure.

Calling it a victory for Oklahoma taxpayers, State Sen. Scott Pruitt said he was very pleased by the Senate Finance Committee vote on Tuesday approving his legislation to reduce the state income tax rate from 6.25 percent to 4.9 percent. The measure passed with bipartisan support.

Pruitt, R-Broken Arrow, said the bill would enable citizens to keep more of their hard-earned dollars. When fully implemented in 2007, it would represent a tax cut of approximately $480 million a year.
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Tuesday the Senate Finance Committee passed a Republican-authored bill to eliminate Oklahoma’s estate tax, commonly referred to as the death tax. In past years, the Democrat-controlled State Senate has blocked GOP efforts to eliminate the death tax.

Senate Bill 334, authored by Republican State Senators Mike Mazzei and Glenn Coffee, provides immediate estate tax relief to non-linear heirs, like nephews and nieces, and completely eliminates the death tax on everyone over a three-year period.

Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Morgan said hes pleased with the progress Senate Democrats have made in moving their 200 Agenda of Personal Responsibility and Accountability through the legislative process in the first two weeks of the Second Session of the 0th Oklahoma Legislature.
Six of the Senate Democrats major proposals have been passed out of committee and will begin being heard on the floor next week when the full Senate takes up a measure to expand the income eligibility for the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program. read more.

A bill to ensure school-age victims of violence have a greater say in limiting contact with their attacker is headed to the full Senate for consideration. Sen. Charlie Laster is author of SB 1597 which was approved this week by the Senate Education Committee.
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Oklahoma is poised to create the nation’s top research and treatment center for diabetes. That’s according to OU President David Boren who addressed the Senate Appropriations Committee in support of Senate Bill 1056. The measure, co-authored by Sen. Cal Hobson and Sen. Glenn Coffee would help fund the start up cost for creating two facilities based on the OU campuses in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. The committee gave its unanimous support to the measure.
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The family of Caitlin Wooten asked a Senate panel today for support of The Caitlin Wooten Act. Shortly after hearing testimony from Donna Wooten, Caitlin’s mother, Senate Bill 1037 was approved by a unanimous vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Paddack, an Ada Democrat and author of the measure, said the law seeks to protect Oklahoma families and communities from senseless acts of violence.
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State Senator Kathleen Wilcoxson has won committee approval for Senate Bill 1089. The Senate Finance Committee approved the legislation on Tuesday. SB 1089 would ban the sale of lottery tickets at pawn shops, payday lenders and check-cashing businesses.
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The full Senate will soon vote on a measure to give neighborhoods across the state greater protection from rapists and child molesters. Sen. Glenn Coffee is author of Senate Bill 1754, which would create the Neighborhood Protection Against Sex Offenders Act. The bill won approval in the Senate Business and Labor Committee on Monday.
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State Senator Debbe Leftwich said the Senate has given its final approval to the Oklahoma Quality Investment Act. The measure would provide incentive payments to “at risk” manufacturing companies in an effort to keep those facilities in the state.

“The bottom line is saving Oklahoma jobs. We need to make sure that the economic advantages of keeping those facilities and jobs in our state are enough to keep us in the game. The incentives offered in House Bill 1619 can give us the edge we need,” said Leftwich, D-OKC.