ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Oklahoma State Senate - News</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta name="author" content="oklahoma state senate staff"> <meta name="description" content="Oklahoma State Senate - Press Release"> <meta name="keywords" content="oklahoma, state, senate, press, release"> </head> <body leftmargin="0" topmargin="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0"> <table width="87%" height="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="this table contains the main navigation menu"> <tr> <td colspan="+2"><!-- #BeginLibraryItem "/Library/barnews.lbi" --> &nbsp;<map name="m_barnews"><area shape="rect" coords="0,0,26,19" href="../../../index.htm" alt="Link to main page" ><area shape="rect" coords="26,0,119,20" href="../../../senators.htm" alt="Link to Senators" ><area shape="rect" coords="124,0,217,20" href="../../../legislation.htm" alt="Link to Legislation" ><area shape="rect" coords="216,0,309,20" href="../../../schedule.htm" alt="Link to Schedule" ><area shape="rect" coords="310,0,403,20" href="../../../committees.htm" alt="Link to Committees" ><area shape="rect" coords="403,0,496,20" href="../../../publications.htm" alt="Link to Publications" ><area shape="rect" coords="498,2,591,20" href="../../../news.htm" alt="Link to News" ><area shape="rect" coords="593,0,689,20" href="../../../staff.htm" alt="Link to Staff" ></map><!-- #EndLibraryItem --></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="100%"> <table width="100%" height="227%" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="this table contains the news navigation menu"> <tr> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="100%"></td> </tr> </table> <br> </td> <td width="100%"><table width="82%" border="0" align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="this table contains the main content of the page"> <tr> <TD width="75%"> <p align="center"><FONT SIZE="+3" FACE="Arial" align="center"><strong>Oklahoma State Senate <br> </strong></font><FONT align="center">President Pro Tempore<br> S</font><FONT align="center">en. Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City<br> State Capitol Room 422<br> Oklahoma City, OK 73105<br> (405) 521-5636</font><FONT SIZE="+3" FACE="Arial" align="center"></font></p> <div align="center"> <table width="13%" border="0" align="center"> <tr> <td width="52%" bordercolor="0"><div align="center"><a href="../../press_releases_audio_clips/2010_audio_clips/prac201005.html"><img src="../headphone.gif" alt="Audio clip" width="27" height="27" border="0"></a></div></td> <td width="48%" bordercolor="0"><div align="center"><font face="Arial"><a href="pr20100527bpv.html"><img src="../../printnews.gif" alt="Printer-friendly version" width="25" height="25" border="0"></a></font></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td bordercolor="0"><div align="center"> <a href="../../press_releases_audio_clips/2010_audio_clips/prac201006.html">Audio</a></div></td> <td bordercolor="0"><div align="center"><a href="pr20100601apv.html">Print</a></div></td> </tr> </table> </div> <p align="center">For Immediate Release: June 1, 2010<br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="../senator_photos/coates_bio.jpg" alt="Sen. Harry Coates" width="144" height="200"> <br> Sen. Harry Coates </p> <p align="center"><strong>Lack of Legislative Action will Bring American Indian Cultural Center and Museum Construction to Standstill<br> &nbsp;</strong></p> <p>A $43 million dollar bond package that would have attracted another $45 million in private donations to complete the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum being built in Oklahoma City failed to receive floor votes on the final day of the 2010 legislative session. State Sen. <a href="../../../Senators/biographies/coates_bio.html">Harry Coates</a>, R-Seminole, said as a result, construction on the incomplete facility will be forced to a standstill.</p> <p> Right now there are enough funds to keep moving forward for a few more months, then everything shuts down, Coates said, noting that when construction completely stops depends on how remaining funds are allocated.  This center is poised to make Oklahoma a national and international destination with enormous economic benefits for our state. I m shocked and extremely disappointed that legislative leaders failed to make sure this came to a vote. </p> <p>The Conference Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 1497 authorized a total of $43 million in bonds, contingent upon the collection of $45 million in private funding. The measure was not signed out by House members of the Conference Committee until late Friday afternoon, and then was not heard in the Senate.</p> <p>Coates said the bond package was a critical component of the financing necessary to complete the $170 million world-class facility. The completion goal for the complex, which would cover 250 acres and include 125,000 square feet of building space, was 2014. When complete, the twenty-year economic impact projection was that the center would generate $3.8 billion.</p> <p> Delaying completion delays the economic benefits for Oklahoma and likely drives up the final costs. At the very least, this was terribly short-sighted. It seriously undermines one of the most significant projects we have going in our state, Coates said.</p> <p align="left"><strong>For more information, contact: </strong><br> Sen. Coates: (405) 521-5547</p> <p align="left" style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><img src="../bandblue.gif" alt="Inon: Horizontal Blue Band" width="640" height="6"></p> <table border=0 align="center" summary="this table contains return links"> <tr> <td width="249"> <center> <font size="-1" face="MS Sans Serif"><a href="pr201006.html">June Press Releases </a>| </font><font face="MS Sans Serif"><a href="../../press_releases.html"><font size="-1">Press Releases</font></a></font><font size="-1"> </font> </center></td> </tr> </table></tr> <tr valign="top"> <td height="38">&nbsp;</td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>