The Oklahoma Senate

(Most of the work in the Legislature occurred on the floors of the respective houses as legislators rushed to beat their next deadline. That deadline, requiring the 3rd reading of bills in the opposite house, is April 16th.)

• In an apparent turnaround, Governor Keating proposed pumping an additional $31 million in general revenue into the Oklahoma State Employee and Education Group Insurance Board to help offset a recent rate increase. Earlier this session, Keating vetoed a similar measure which would have accomplished the same goal using rainy day funds. Senate President Pro Tempore Stratton Taylor said Keating's proposal would be considered, but added it didn't make sense to use recurring general revenue funds for a one-time expenditure.
  
  
• The House defeated SB 643 which would have created the Commercial Property and Casualty Competitives Loss Cost Rating Act. Senator Mark Snyder's legislation would have allowed commercial insurance companies to raise their rates greater than 15 percent up or down margin without an Insurance Commission review. Rep. Bill Settle, who opposed the bill in the House, claimed it would take away Oklahomans "right to redress a wrong."
  
  
• The House and Senate approved similar bills relating to the sale of life insurance policies to terminally ill patients. SB 791 and HB 2372 would establish a licensure process for viatical brokers. A viatical settlement is a transaction between an insurance policy holder and a buyer. The buyer pays the policy holder a set amount, then collects the full amount when the seller dies.
  
  
• The House unanimously approved SB 1215 which would make it a crime to obtain or manufacture a device used in the act of cell phone cloning. Cloning allows someone to use someone else's number and air time with little ability to trace who made the call.
  
  
• The Senate approved HB 2272 which would allow towing and wrecker services to increase their fees.
  
  
• The Senate approved HB 2706 which would transfer the revenue enforcement section of the motor vehicle division of the Oklahoma Tax Commission to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.
  
  
• The Senate approved HB 2701 which would direct the Oklahoma Health Care Authority to prepare state plan options for implementation of Medicaid and a State Children's Health Insurance program.
  
  
• The Senate approved HB 3292 which would direct the Oklahoma Health Care Authority to create an insurance program proposal for low income families with Title 11 funds.
  
  
• The Senate approved HB 2448 which would reduce the marriage license fees of couples who agreed to undergo pre-marital counseling. Backers contend the measure will encourage such counseling, thus decreasing the possibility of divorce.

• The Senate approved HB 2335 which would allow each school district board to draft its own rules regarding appeals of short term suspensions. The measure is designed to create more local control over the suspension process, clearing up confusion caused by recent law changes on the subject.
  
  
• The House approved SB 1321 which would provide for Medicaid coverage of smoking cessation. Supporters say a small investment to help people break the habit could save the state millions of dollars in health costs in the future.
  
  
• The Senate rejected a measure which would have made it illegal for security guards to wear uniforms that resemble those of local peace officers. Opponents of HB 2455 argued that it took regulation too far.
  
  
• The House approved SB 782 which would refine and expand the Oklahoma Quality Jobs Act. The program has been credited with creating more than 60,000 new jobs since its creation in 1993.
  
  
• The House approved a committee substitute for SB 1022 which would force convicted DUI offenders to forfeit their vehicle. The amended version added municipal courts to the list of bodies which must report DUI violations. The title was stricken.
  
  
• The House approved an amendment to SB 1261 which would bar homosexual couples from adopting children in Oklahoma. The measure originally focused on limiting application of records requirements from persons requesting custody of children.
  
  
• The Senate approved legislation which would allow counties to collect annual payments from cities for land utilized for municipal water supplies. SB 2420 by Senator J. Berry Harrison would require annual in-lieu-of-tax payments must be made equal to the average property tax per acre paid on similar land in the county. Some urban legislators objected to the legislation, claiming it was unconstitutional to allow one municipal entity to tax another.
  
  
• The Senate approved a measure which would make it a felony to pay child support with a bogus check. Opponents of HB 2337 argued it would create a "debtors prison."
  
  
• The Senate approved legislation designed to crack down on so-called date rape drugs that incapacitate victims, making them more vulnerable to attack. HB 2654 would add the drugs to the Schedule I substance abuse list of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act.
  
  
• The Senate approved HB 2965 which would prohibit establishment of ambulatory surgical centers in the vicinity of certain municipal and county owned hospitals. Senate author Trish Weedn says the legislation is needed to protect rural hospitals.

• The Senate approved a floor substitute for HB 2542, the so-called partial birth abortion bill. The floor substitute returned the bill to its original state before it was amended in the Senate Human Resources Committee. The measure would ban partial-birth abortions in Oklahoma unless the life of the mother was in danger.

• The Senate adjourned for the Easter weekend.

• The leaders of OU and OSU criticized legislators for overlooking the needs of higher education. Presidents David Boren and Jim Halligan questioned why lawmakers were allocating funds to roads and prisons at the expense of state colleges and universities.
  
  
• A special task force studying the Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System issued its report. It recommended options for dealing with a $4.7 billion unfunded liability in OTRS.
  
  The panel recommended that trying to reduce 80 percent of the unfunded liability rather than 100 percent in the next 30 years. The pension is currently 42 percent funded. It proposed reducing the current schedule of employer contribution rates, abandoning the gross production tax on natural gas as a funding source and replacing it with a more stable source. It also recommended that the state general fund, not the teacher pension system, fund cost-of-living increase. It recommended that OTRS be given any uncommitted money in the rainy day fund and any revenue gains from tobacco case settlements.
  
  More than 110,000 active and retired teachers and school employee part of the system.
  
  
• The author of a measure which would allow Oklahoma motorists to carry loaded weapons in their vehicles sent his legislation to conference committee. Senator Frank Shurden said Senate President Pro Tempore Stratton Taylor made the request to reject House amendments and move the bill to conference.