The full Senate has given approval to a bill aimed at improving care for Oklahoma National Guardsmen struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Sen. Brian Crain is principal author of Senate Bill 527 which was approved by the Senate on Monday 44 to 0.

Crain said the programs would be administered by the University of Oklahoma and would be geared to assist the spouses, parents and other friends and family members who are acting as caregivers for returning troops.

Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman issued the following statement Wednesday following the passage of Senate Bill 1062, the Administrative Workers’ Compensation Act, in the full Senate. The legislation, authored by Pro Tem Bingman, was passed by a vote of 34-12 and now heads to the House of Representatives.

Currently, 17 members of the state Senate have signed on as co-authors of the Administrative Workers’ Compensation Act.

The “Parent Empowerment Act,” has passed its first hurdle in the Legislature. The bipartisan bill, SB 1001, authored by Sen. David Holt, R-Oklahoma City, and Sen. Jabar Shumate, D-Tulsa, will give Oklahoma parents a new tool to accomplish dramatic and positive change in their child’s underperforming school. The bill was approved 7-3 by the Senate Education Committee on Monday.

A measure that would have helped ease the pain and suffering of thousands of Oklahomans by providing them access to alternative medicine was killed Monday in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. Senate Bill 710 would have legalized the use of medical marijuana prescribed by a doctor in the state. The bill’s author, Sen. Constance N. Johnson has been advocating for this issue for the past seven years and was pleased that it was finally given a hearing by the committee.

Sen. Patrick Anderson today praised the efforts of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT), and Director Gary Ridley, to clear roads following Monday’s blizzard. The storm has made travel difficult in North and Northwestern Oklahoma, but ODOT crews are plowing and treating roads to make them passable.

State Sen. Earl Garrison says a bill approved in the Senate Education Committee will abolish due process rights for public school support staff. Currently, those working in support positions are “at will” employees for their first year of employment—after that they have limited due process rights. Senate Bill 230, which was approved on Monday, would completely eliminate those rights.

Sen. Constance N. Johnson has filed bills to legalize the use of medicinal marijuana in Oklahoma since 2006 and none of those measures were ever given a hearing in a Senate committee until this year. The Oklahoma County democrat is pleased that the Senate Health and Human Services Committee has finally agreed to give the issue a hearing. Senate Bill 710, creating the “Compassionate Use Act of 2013”, will be heard Monday afternoon in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee following session.

The state Senate today approved legislation that would bar the use of foreign law in Oklahoma courts. Senate Bill 1015 states that courts shall not enforce any foreign law as a means of mitigating punishment or providing justification for the commission of a crime.

Sen. Dan Newberry, author of the measure, said the bill was written to preserve constitutional rights and guarantees for those who enter Oklahoma courts.

The full Senate is the next stop for a bill creating two pilot programs to help Oklahoma National Guardsmen returning from duty with either Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Sen. Brian Crain, Chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee won passage for Senate Bill 527 in Senate Appropriations on Wednesday. He said the University of Oklahoma would administer the programs.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Sen. Connie Johnson has been appointed to serve as Chair of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators’ (NBCSL) Health Committee for 2013-2014. Sen. Johnson was appointed by NBCSL President Joe Armstrong of Tennessee because of her extensive work in the area of health care at the annual conferences where she regularly introduces resolutions addressing issues important to American’s health. Over the years, Sen.