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Senator Debbe Leftwich announced today that a measure to extend the Oklahoma Quality Investment Act that was signed by the Governor during the last legislative session, has cleared yet another legislative hurdle. Senate Bill 755 also renames the Act, which served as a pilot program for Dayton Tire, to the Oklahoma Specialized Quality Investment Act.

Senator Debbe Leftwich announced today that a measure to extend the Oklahoma Quality Investment Act that was signed by the Governor during the last legislative session, has cleared yet another legislative hurdle. Senate Bill 755 also renames the Act, which served as a pilot program for Dayton Tire, to the Oklahoma Specialized Quality Investment Act.

The State Senate has approved a bill to ensure victims of sexual assault or domestic violence will have some economic protection. The legislation, Senate Bill 935, is called the “Victims Economic Security and Safety Act.”

State Senators approved the creation of new retirement system for public safety employees Tuesday.
Senate Bill 711 offers public safety employees who are now members of the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System a retirement plan more in line with the plan to which most police officers and firefighters belong, said State Senator Kenneth Corn, author of the measure.

In a show of bipartisan support, the State Senate has approved a measure that could help law enforcement identify suspects in unsolved murder, rape and other criminal cases. Senator Jonathan Nichols is principal author of SB 646. He said the measure would expand the state’s DNA database to include all convicted felons.

State Senators Monday overwhelmingly approved a $2.152 billion budget for public schools two days before the “Fund Education First” deadline of March 16.

Senate Bill 217, which represents a funding increase for K-12 schools of $144.7 million over Fiscal Year 2005, passed on a 43-0 vote.

“This legislation mirrors the common education appropriation in the governor’s executive budget very closely. More importantly, it includes the funds necessary to keep the promises we made to our teachers last year,” said Senate Appropriations Chairman Mike Morgan, D-Stillwater.

A bill to expand a prescription assistance program has passed the Senate in a bi-partisan majority vote and awaits action in the House of Representatives, Senator Susan Paddack, author of the measure said.

A bill to help bring computer child pornographers to justice is now making its way through the House of Representatives. State Senator Cliff Branan, R-OKC, is principal author of SB 513 which has already won unanimous approval in the Senate. He explained the measure is similar to a law requiring photo labs to report child porn pictures they find while processing film.

A measure to ensure the safety of Oklahoma’s children received approval from the Senate today. Senate Bill 618, authored by Mary Easley, creates the “Dustin Rhodes CPR Training Act,” which would require two employees at every school to receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) instruction each year.

The Democrat from South Tulsa authored the legislation following the tragic death of Dustin Rhodes in the school cafeteria. The boy started choking on a piece of bread, and while teachers and staff tried to help the child; they were not properly trained in CPR.

Senate Bill 531 is on its way to the State House of Representatives. That’s after winning unanimous approval by the Senate on Tuesday. Senator Scott Pruitt, R-Broken Arrow, said the bill is designed to help school districts with cash-flow problems resulting from unforeseen expenses and fluctuating revenues.

“Our school districts do a very careful job of planning their budgets, but there are some things that can’t be completely anticipated—a big spike in fuel prices, for example, can have a serious budgetary impact,” explained Pruitt.