The Senate Finance Committee chair echoed the sentiments of Senator Daisy Lawler and called on the Lottery Commission to reverse their decision to allow lottery tickets to be sold at pawn shops and payday loan companies.

“Senator Lawler is right on the money to ask the lottery commission to reverse this decision, and I join her in that call,” Gumm, an Assistant Majority Leader in the Senate, said. “This was a bad decision made by good people that needs to be reversed as soon as possible.”

State Senator Daisy Lawler Thursday encouraged members of the Oklahoma Education Lottery Commission to move quickly to ban the sale of lottery tickets at pawn shops and payday loan companies and vowed to push for legislation next year to prevent such sales.

“Allowing the sale of lottery tickets in pawn shops and over the counters at payday loan companies is nothing more than preying on the poorest among us,” said Lawler, D-Comanche. “There’s right and wrong and that’s just wrong.”

State Sen. Cliff Aldridge, R-Midwest City, said the decision by the Oklahoma Lottery Commission’s oversight board – which was appointed by Gov. Brad Henry – to allow lottery ticket sales at pawn shops, check-cashing businesses, and payday loan companies amounts to profiting from Oklahoma’s neediest citizens.

Statement from Randy Brogdon, R-Owasso
State Senator Dist 34

“More than two thirds of Oklahoma taxpayers approve of holding the growth of state government to a reasonable level. Unfortunately the other third, the big spenders, are trying to stifle very good legislation by portraying a dishonest view of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights initiative (TABOR).

With friends, family and supporters gathered in the Senate Gallery, Oklahoma City Democrat Constance N. Johnson was officially sworn in to be the next District 48 Senator. Federal District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange, who held the District 48 seat from 1986 until 1993, administered the oath of office.

“This is a proud day for my family and for me,” said Johnson. “I am very humbled by the trust that the citizens of District 48 have placed in me and I pledge to do the best job I can.”

Among those congratulating Johnson was Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Morgan.

State Senator Tom Adelson said Friday that the federal government’s approval of the Oklahoma Premium Assistance Plan means thousands of currently uninsured Oklahomans will soon have health insurance coverage under what he called the “most innovative public-private partnership in the history of Medicaid.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Morgan called on Republicans in the State Senate Friday to denounce a statement by former Education Secretary William Bennett that links the crime rate and the abortion of black babies. Bennett served as Education Secretary under former Republican President Ronald Reagan and served as Drug Czar under George H. W. Bush.

Morgan demanded that Republicans in the Senate call their radical right wing allies in Washington and ask them to stop appointing such questionable leaders to positions that control the destiny of so many Americans.

GUEST EDITORIAL - More than two-thirds of Oklahoma taxpayers approve of holding the growth of state government to a reasonable level. Unfortunately, the other one-third – those who do not embrace responsible growth – are beginning to panic because of the TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) initiative. A natural impulse in a panic situation is to huddle in a defensive posture and try to protect your own at all cost. Such is the case with many tax-receiving groups around the state.

In a recent report by the Oklahoma Aging Partnership (OAP), the majority of Oklahoma State Senate Democrats were recognized for their perfect voting record on matters important to older Oklahomans. The report gave 20 perfect scores – 18 of which went to Senate Democrats.

State Sen. Susan Paddack said friends and neighbors in her community of Ada were devastated by this past weekend’s kidnapping and murder of teenager Caitlin Elizabeth Wooten. The Ada high school student was abducted by her mother’s former boyfriend and was later found dead in an apparent murder/suicide. Now Sen. Paddack is looking at possible legislation to prevent similar crimes in the future.