OKLAHOMA CITY - An interim study on a school consolidation measure has been requested by the bill's author. Senator Bill Gustafson said he wants Senate Bill 751 held over until next year so the issue can receive more study.

"The issue of who's paying and who's not paying for high school funding is central to this bill," said Gustafson, R-El Reno. "I think it's worth holding it over until next year so all the facts can be heard."

SB 751 calls for the consolidation of dependent school districts with independent districts.

Members of North America's Superhighway Coalition will meet with lawmakers and Coalition officials in Tulsa later this week as they prepare for the 1997 legislative sessions, both in Oklahoma and Washington D.C.

The Coalition was formed in 1994 to work for the designation of I-35 as a High Priority Corridor and make the states through which it runs eligible for a share of federal funding set aside under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991.

Continuing Oklahoma's economic growth will be the top priority of a wide-ranging Senate agenda this legislative session, according to the leader of the Oklahoma State Senate.

"We'll be addressing all of Oklahoma's needs, but our overall theme will be one of economic growth. We're experiencing an economic renaissance of sorts in Oklahoma, and we're going to do everything we can as legislators to make sure the success continues," said Senator Stratton Taylor, President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Recent rate hikes by Oklahoma Natural Gas will soon be the subject of a state Senate investigation, announced Senator Frank Shurden, author of a measure which calls for the investigation.

Shurden, D-Henryetta, said Senate Resolution 2 calls for the investigation to determine if ONG's recent rate hike, which added almost $30 to the average consumers monthly gas bill, was truly justified.

OKLAHOMA CITY - A measure giving municipalities and County Commissioners the ability to set speed limits for trains at local rail crossings will soon be heard in the state Legislature, Senator Frank Shurden announced today.

Senate Bill 270 would allow towns and cities to set speed limits in incorporated areas and County Commissioners to set them for unincorporated crossings as long as the new limit is above 25 miles per hour.

Currently rail speed limits are set by the Federal Railroad Administration in Washington, D.C.

OKLAHOMA CITY - A Senate leader is urging Governor Keating to join the growing chorus of voices calling for a significant cut in workers compensation rates. The State Board of Property and Casualty Rates will consider rate cut requests at a meeting later this month.

OKLAHOMA CITY -Today the Chairman of the State Senate's Business and Labor Committee called for Governor Frank Keating's reconsideration of the ongoing state hiring freeze.

Senator Lewis Long pointed to a Senate study he requested on the implications of the freeze which shows that savings from the freeze have been offset by a 65 percent increase in contracts with temporary workers.

Senate budget leaders have announced an extensive road building program that will double Oklahoma's highway construction budget and create more than 21,000 spin-off jobs in the process. The $750 million program employs a "lease-back" mechanism that will allow the state to build roads and highways immediately, but pay off the construction cost over a period of years.

A letter from a state appeals court judge indicates a gubernatorial veto handed down last May is causing a case backlog in the criminal courts that could delay executions and result in charges being dismissed against some accused criminals. For that reason and others, legislative leaders are contemplating a supplemental appropriation to the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System.

OKLAHOMA CITY - In an effort to keep Oklahoma's current economic growth on track and boost the personal income of individual Oklahomans, Senate leaders will be pursuing a stimulus package this legislative session that will cut business taxes and encourage higher wage jobs.