Sen. Bryce Marlatt on Tuesday said he intends to file legislation to give Oklahoma teachers an across the board pay increase in the coming legislative session. Marlatt said the state’s teacher shortage has reached a point of crisis, with school administrators across the state struggling to fill teaching vacancies.

The State Department of Education has received an unusually high number of requests for emergency teaching certifications, which allow candidates who have not completed standard education and training requirements to teach in state classrooms, he said.

Sen. Jim Halligan, R-Stillwater, has decided that the 2016 session will be his last to serve in the Oklahoma Legislature. Before being elected to the Senate in 2008, Halligan, who chairs the Appropriation Subcommittee on Education, was president of Oklahoma State University. He issued the following statement on Wednesday:

Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman on Thursday issued the following statement on the passing of former Transportation Secretary and Commission Chairman Herschal H. Crow, Jr. Crow, who was 80, served in the Senate (D-Altus, District 25) from 1969 through 1982. He passed away unexpectedly Wednesday morning days after surgery for a broken hip.

State Senator Anastasia A. Pittman will serve as keynote speaker for the luncheon kickoff for the 45th Annual Miss Black Oklahoma and Miss Black Oklahoma Teen pageant events next week. This year’s luncheon will be held on Tuesday, July 28th at 12pm at the Waterford Hotel in Oklahoma City.

After Tuesday’s luncheon event, the pageant will be held the following weekend on Saturday, August 1, at 7:00pm at the Freede Little Theater located inside the Civic Center Music Hall in Oklahoma City.

OKLAHOMA CITY Sen. Kyle Loveless, R-Oklahoma City, today reacted to the Oklahoma congressional delegations support of the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act (FAIR Act) legislation aimed at reforming civil asset forfeiture laws at the federal level.

I am pleased that our congressional delegation is standing up and co-sponsoring this important measure, said Loveless. Legislators across the country have been working to reform civil asset forfeiture laws, but meaningful reform cant happen until the federal government fixes things on their end.

More Oklahoma students will be able to qualify for the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program (OHLAP) and attend college thanks to a new law that went into effect July 1. Sen. Corey Brooks was the principal author of Senate Bill 137, which allows the State Regents for Higher Education to review cases where a family’s income includes nontaxable military benefits or federal Social Security payments due to the death or disability of one or both parents.

The Democrats of the Oklahoma State Senate have chosen Sen. John Sparks as leader of the Democratic Caucus. Sparks, of Norman, will succeed Sen. Randy Bass of Lawton. Sparks will take over from Bass as of this week.

“We are all grateful for Sen. Bass’ leadership this past session. His commitment to Democratic ideals is remarkable and his strong legislative efforts on behalf of Oklahoma’s children and families have been significant,” Sparks said.

Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman released the following statement Thursday in response to the United States Supreme Courts decision in King v. Burwell:

OKLAHOMA CITY Senate Democratic Leader Randy Bass, D-Lawton, today released the following statement in response to the United States Supreme Courts decision in King v. Burwell:

The Affordable Care Act is far from perfect, but it is working. The subsidies are helping more than 87,000 Oklahomans access quality, affordable health coverage. But we can, and must, do more for hard working Oklahomans and their families.

Community leaders, parents, teachers, homeschool educators, and other interested groups are invited to attend an educational think tank meeting next week designed to discuss and define the vision of the curriculum in Oklahoma schools. The event, hosted by Sen. Anastasia A. Pittman and Rep. George Young, will be held at the State Capitol in Oklahoma City on June 18 at 3pm.

Discussion will primarily focus on three areas, including:
Identification of priority issues relating to diversity, inclusion and curriculum;