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Democrats of the Oklahoma State Senate unveiled an aggressive 2007 legislative agenda today. Senate Democratic leaders said the “Oklahoma Rising” agenda includes opportunities for all Oklahomans.

Republicans in the evenly divided Oklahoma State Senate unveiled their 2007 legislative agenda – titled a “Vision for a Better Oklahoma” – at news conferences in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and Lawton on Wednesday.

“Today we’re presenting our vision for making Oklahoma a superior state in which to live and raise a family, receive an excellent education, work at a quality job, succeed in business, and comfortably retire,” stated Senator Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, the Senate’s co-President Pro Tempore.
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Oklahoma’s declining gross production tax revenues should serve as sobering evidence that state lawmakers must take greater care in how they appropriate oil and gas revenue, a veteran State Senator said Thursday.

Senator Kenneth Corn, a Democrat from Poteau, said Tuesday’s state revenue report is exactly why he believes the state needs a Constitutional amendment limiting use of excess gross production tax revenue to one-time expenditures.
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State Sen. Debbe Leftwich said Wednesday’s vote in the U.S. House of Representatives to hike the federal minimum wage was a victory for working people throughout Oklahoma and across the nation. The measure would increase the federal minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 over a two-year period.

Leftwich, co-chair of the Senate Business and Labor Committee, said the measure was long overdue, and said she planned to file similar legislation in Oklahoma.
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The role Oklahoma voters play in shaping the state’s laws and public policy is too important to leave it open to fraud—that’s according to Sen. John Ford, who has filed legislation requiring voters to show identification when they cast their ballots.

“As citizens, we all have not only the right, but a responsibility to vote. As a government, we have the responsibility to assure that only duly registered voters exercise that right to vote,” said Ford.
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On Tuesday, January 2nd, 2007, Senator Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, was elected as Co-President
Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma State Senate for the 51st Legislature. Coffee was also elected to serve as the first Republican President Pro Tempore for the month of July, 2007.

Coffee commented on the historic agreement between the Republican and Democrat caucuses to share power as a result of the 24-24 tie within the Oklahoma State Senate:

Stillwater Democrat Mike Morgan was elected to a second term as the President Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma State Senate Tuesday as part of the Constitutional organization day for the 51st Oklahoma Legislature.

As part of an historic power-sharing agreement, Morgan will serve as president pro tempore through June 30 and again from August 1 through November 19, 2008. Oklahoma City Republican Glenn Coffee was elected to serve as president pro tem for the month of July 2007.
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