Audio

The Oklahoma Senate on Tuesday approved a measure to bring Oklahoma into compliance with the federal REAL ID law. The measure, House Bill 1845, is co-authored by Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Schulz and Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall.

The Senate Public Safety Committee gave the green light to the Impaired Driver Elimination Act 2 (IDEA2) Thursday. Sen. Kim David, R-Porter, is the author of Senate Bill 643, which will create the Impaired Driver Accountability Program (IDAP) within the Department of Public Safety for first time DUI offenders while their license is revoked.
read more.

Late Wednesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved legislation 30-10 to pursue possible relocation of the Talihina Veterans’ Center. Navy veteran and Chairman of the Senate Veterans Committee, Sen. Frank Simpson is the author of the Senate Bill 544 that he filed following the questionable deaths of two center residents in the last five months.
read more.

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted Wednesday in favor of a bill that would effectively stop another income tax cut from automatically going into effect based on revenue growth. Sen. Roger Thompson is the author of Senate Bill 170. He’s the chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Finance, where the bill easily passed its first hurdle Tuesday.
read more.

The full Senate approved legislation Wednesday to transfer oversight of the Compulsory Insurance Online Verification System (OCIVS) for motor vehicle liability policies from the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to the Oklahoma Insurance Department (OID). Sen. Ron Sharp, R-Shawnee, is the principal Senate author of Senate Bill 115 and said the bill is an effort to reduce the number of uninsured drivers in the state.
read more.

Sen. Pres. Pro Tempore Mike Schulz issued the following statement Wednesday after the Senate Appropriations Committee approved House Bill 1845, the REAL ID Act, co-authored by Schulz and House Speaker Charles McCall.

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education met Wednesday and approved half a dozen measures to increase teacher pay in Oklahoma.  Sen. Jason Smalley, R-Stroud, chairs the subcommittee.   He said with 48 members, there were several different ideas of how much the raises should be and how to pay for it.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved legislation Wednesday to construct a new state health lab. Sen. Kim David, R-Porter, is the author of Senate Bill 236 to authorize the Oklahoma Capitol Improvement Authority to issue nearly $59 million in bonds for the construction of the new facility.

David said the lab has faced losing its accreditation since 2008, which would be detrimental and extremely costly for the state, and this year the legislature must act.
read more.