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Showing: May, 2014

The Senate concluded the 2nd session of the 54th Legislature a week ahead of schedule Friday.

President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman said the session was challenging, yet productive, citing many accomplishments passed into law this year, including:

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Term limited Sen. Cliff Aldridge (R-Choctaw) makes the motion to adjourn session Sine Die.

Sen. Rick Brinkley, Chair of the Senate Pension Committee, issued the following comments after presenting House Bill 2630 for final approval by the Senate on Wednesday. The bill creates a defined-contribution pension system for new employees, while current state employees, teachers and those designated as “hazardous duty” will remain under the existing defined-benefit plan.

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Sen. Rick Brinkley explains persion reform bill.

Sen. Gary Stanislawski, R-Tulsa, is Vice-Chair of the Senate Education Committee, and is the Senate author of a measure modifying Oklahoma’s Reading Sufficiency Act. He issued the following statement following Wednesday’s override of Gov. Fallin’s veto of House Bill 2625.

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Sen. Stanislawski on veto override of reading act.
Weekly Q & A with Senate President Pro Tempore and Appropriations Chairman Clark Jolley (Week 15)
Discussion on the budget agreement

The full Senate honored one of its former members on Wednesday for his historic preservation efforts in the state Capitol, and for his work to create an important art collection to adorn the building. Senate Resolution 90, authored by Pres. Pro Tempore Brian Bingman and coauthored by the full Senate, honored Sen. Charles Ford for his work restoring the Senate Chamber and other areas of the Capitol to their original architectural design, as well as raising $2.5 million in
private donations to create a significant collection of original art telling the story of Oklahoma.

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Reading of resolution and comments from Sen. John Ford and Sen. Charles Ford.
Weekly Q & A with Senate President Pro Tempore (Week 14)
Sen. Constance N. Johnson Press conference on the appropriateness of the Governor's proposal assigning review and investigation of Lockett execution case to the Public Safety Commissioner
Speakers include: Sen. Johnson; attorney David Slayne; ACLU OK Executive Director Ryan Kiesel; and Garland Pruitt, president of NAACP OKC branch