Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, made the following statement in response to the Senate Democrats’ “2020 Plan” for transportation funding in Oklahoma.

“Democrats in the Legislature have under-funded transportation for years, so it is encouraging to see that they are finally making transportation a priority. As the saying goes, better late than never. I look forward to studying their plan more closely,” Coffee stated.

SENATOR COFFEE: Gov. Henry is Putting Families at Risk by Releasing A Violent Criminal Every Workday

State Capitol, Oklahoma City – Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee said Friday that a new criminal justice study shows that Gov. Brad Henry was “flat wrong” when he claimed Wednesday that releasing violent criminals on supervised parole is better than making them serve their full sentence.

Charles R. Ford announced the unveiling of a portrait of Amelia Elizabeth “Bessie” McColgin, as part of a series of paintings commissioned by the Oklahoma State Senate Historical Preservation Fund, Inc. The portrait of Oklahoma’s first female representative is by nationally- renowned artist Mike Wimmer of Norman, and was unveiled during a ceremony in the House Chamber this afternoon.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Has Already Killed Henry’s Tort Bill This Session

State Capitol, Oklahoma City – Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee has written Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Laster to formally request a committee hearing for House Bill 2047, the landmark comprehensive lawsuit reform bill authored by Coffee and House Speaker Todd Hiett.

HB 2047 passed the House of Representatives three weeks ago on a bipartisan 62 to 38 vote, and is still awaiting action in the Senate.

Gov. Henry Putting Families at Risk With Release of Violent Criminals from Prison

Senate Republicans leaders said Wednesday that Gov. Brad Henry is putting Oklahoma families at risk with his approval of the release of nearly 500 violent criminals from prison since he took office two years ago – almost a 100% increase compared to former Gov. Frank Keating’s final two years in office, according to data obtained from the state’s Pardon and Parole Board.

Charles R. Ford announced the unveiling of a portrait of Sam Walton, as part of a series of paintings commissioned by the Oklahoma State Senate Historical Preservation Fund, Inc. The portrait of Walton is by nationally- renowned artist Mike Wimmer of Norman, and was unveiled during a ceremony in the Senate Chamber this afternoon.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Johnnie Crutchfield said Tuesday that he’s fearful that the unwillingness of the House Republican leadership to compromise on any budget issue could be a signal of a potential GOP-led shutdown of state government.

“It could just be a sign of House leadership’s inexperience in writing a state budget, but I’m fearful that Representative Hiett plans to follow the example set a decade ago by the first Republican speaker of the U.S. House in a generation,” Crutchfield said.

Democrat Leaders Suspected of Trying to Engineer Government Shutdown With ‘Unrealistic’ Budget Proposal

Senate Republican leaders Tuesday unveiled a compromise budget proposal in an effort to head off what appears to be an effort by Democrat leaders to engineer a shutdown of state government. Senate Republicans hope to repeat their efforts in 2003, when they helped broker a bipartisan budget agreement during the budget shortfall after proposing their own compromise budget.

Statement by Senate Appropriations Chairman Johnnie Crutchfield

“The budget outline released by Senate Republicans today is just that – a very sketchy outline with no details. Senator Coffee couldn’t be more wrong than when he says that Senate Democrats are trying to engineer a shutdown of state government.

“Senate Republicans are the ones who voted as a block against funding for a multitude of state agencies two weeks ago.

Senator Cal Hobson said today that college students throughout Oklahoma will soon see the results of a $500 million dollar investment in their future when construction begins on projects included in the Higher Education Bond Issue that passed the Senate with bi-partisan support. Hobson, Senate author of the bill, said passage of House Bill 1191, marks the end of months of work on an issue that will go down in history as an important victory for higher education and a victory for all Oklahomans.