Audio

David and Floyd made history in Oklahoma when they became the first women since statehood to hold the posts of Majority and Minority leaders in the First Session of the 57th Legislature. David was also the first woman to serve as Senate Appropriations Chair.

The Senate Education Committee approved legislation Tuesday to help fill the large number of teaching vacancies in the state.  Retired teacher Sen. Ron Sharp, R-Shawnee, said his Senate Bill 1115 is desperately needed to help decrease classroom sizes by extending emergency teaching certificates.

A pair of bills aimed at increasing accountability for those convicted of domestic violence have been approved by the full Senate.  Sen. Rob Standridge, R-Norman, is the author of both measures, which were approved on Monday.

Senate Bill 1103 deals with domestic violence attacks that deal with strangulation, a crime that is often a precursor to domestic homicide. Senate Bill 1104 deals with domestic violence against pregnant women.

The Oklahoma Senate approved legislation to improve fiscal transparency and accountability of Oklahoma’s state agencies. Senate Bill 177, by Sen. Ron Sharp, was one of the seven recommendations made by the multi-grand jury in May 2018 following the discovery of financial issues at the State Department of Health.

SB 177 requires state agencies to provide a balance sheet and statement of revenues, expenditures and changes in fund balances as prescribed by the State Auditor and the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES).

After years of stalled attempts to modernize Oklahoma statutes dealing with Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs), compromise legislation has cleared the full Senate.  Senate Bill 801 would bring Oklahoma in line with much of the country in how CRNAs are regulated.  The bill, authored by Sen. Paul Rosino, was approved unanimously on Monday.

An exemption allowing in-home hospice providers the ability to opt out of electronic prescribing has been passed by the full Senate.

Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, authored Senate Bill 1278, which allows outpatient hospice patients to have greater access to their medications by exempting their doctors from Oklahoma’s electronic prescription law that went into effect on Jan. 1.

The law was a recommendation from the Oklahoma Commission on Opioid Abuse and aims to combat prescription fraud and opioid abuse.

A bill requiring Oklahoma school districts to adopt suicide awareness and training programs for grades seven through 12 has been passed by the Senate.

Senate Bill 266 by Sen. Allison Ikley-Freeman, D-Tulsa, who is also a mental health professional, is the first step in preventing suicide among Oklahoma’s children, she said.

Under current state law, honorably discharged veterans get free entry to all state parks and museums.  However, the law is written assuming state parks charge per person rather than per vehicle, which parks are starting to do.  To ensure these veterans continue getting free entry, Sen. Frank Simpson, R-Springer, authored Senate Bill 1185 at the request of the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department.  The bill was unanimously approved Thursday by the Senate Business, Commerce and Tourism Committee.

The full Senate has voted in favor of a measure that would increase Oklahoma’s statute of limitations for both first and second degree manslaughter.  Sen. Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, is principal author of Senate Bill 414.  The Senate gave unanimous approval to the bill on Wednesday, the first bill to pass off the floor during the 2020 legislative session.