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Four first-term Senators have jointly filed a bill to implement the plan proposed by legendary economist Dr. Arthur Laffer to phase out the Oklahoma income tax.
SB 1587 is authored by Senators David Holt, R-Oklahoma City, Greg Treat R-Oklahoma City, Rob Johnson, R-Oklahoma City, and Josh Brecheen, R-Coalgate. It would lower the Oklahoma income tax rate from 5.25 percent to 2.25 percent in 2013, and then gradually lower it until the rate is zero in 2022.
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Sen. David Holt, R-Oklahoma City, has filed legislation to make the Oklahoma Legislature subject to the Open Meetings and Open Records Acts. Those two statutes have long provided transparency to all levels of government, but not the Legislature, which exempted itself.
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“Media reports of the president's rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline confirms what Oklahomans already know: Obama cares more about his re-election prospects than our nation's energy independence and the hundreds of thousands of jobs this project would create.

“Pandering to far-left environmentalists might please the president's friends at MoveOn.org, but it won't help relieve the glut of crude oil in Cushing,
won't create jobs for Oklahomans, and certainly won't make America's energy future secure."

Sen. Sean Burrage, D-Claremore, announced Thursday that he cannot accept the emergency rules handed down from Commissioner Doak and Governor Fallin as Oklahoma’s best effort to fix the problems surrounding the child-only insurance market. A pair of bills being filed offer a path forward without leaving newborns out in the cold. Burrage said that as many as 17 other states have faced a similar problem.