Governor finds flaws with tort reform bill
Gov. Brad Henry has found “a number of flaws” in the tort reform bill passed last week by legislators, according to a letter he wrote to a Republican Senate leader.
The governor has until Saturday to approve or veto Senate Bill 507, which changes the way lawsuits are treated in court cases ranging from personal injury to medical malpractice.
Henry made the comments in a letter released late yesterday to Senate co-President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City.
The governor’s correspondence was in response to a letter from Coffee, in which he asked the governor to approve the measure with the assurance another bill would be filed to clear up some provisions.…
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Remembering crime victims
Debra Wyatt says it’s hard for her to take the advice of an Oklahoma prosecutor that she should consider herself a crime survivor
“I feel like a victim every day,” said Wyatt, whose parents were killed in 2003 in Depew and her sister was killed in a separate slaying two years later.
“It is a whole different kind of grief having someone taken from you,” she said to about 100, many of whom were crime victims, during a rally yesterday at the state Capitol.…
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Insults abound, apologies rare
Politics can be a brutal sport at times. Each lawmaker’s words are carefully parced, and often criticized by the members of the other party.
Today the argument continued between Republican Oklahoma City Rep. Trebor Worthen and Democratic Norman Rep. Wallace Collins. Worthen sent out a press release demanding an apology for comments Collins said that Worthen contends are offensive to public schools.
Collins said during discussion on a bill, “I’m only a public school graduate, so I’m not very literate, if you could talk to me in a manner I can understand.”
He was kidding, Collins said.…
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Give me a (tax) break
Despite several senators saying the state already offers too many tax breaks, two measures providing sales tax exemptions won approval today in the state Senate.
House Bill 2019 would provide a tax refund of $354,000 on the construction of a 225-room, $7 million hotel being planned near Remington Park. The measure passed, 27-19.
HB 1387 would give a tax credit equal to 40 percent of the amount paid for equipment and installation of a wind or solar energy system for five years.…
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Romney's absence noted
Presidential contender Mitt Romney’s decision to bail at the last minute from the Oklahoma Republican Party’s state convention last weekend may have cost him some support among delegates.
Romney, a former Massachussetts governor, was not among the top four finishers in a straw poll taken of the 885 delegates during Saturday’s convention in Oklahoma City. Romney was campaigning Saturday in South Carolina.
The top winner was Fred Thompson, former U.S. senator from Tennessee and former co-chief counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee in the 1970s.…
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A vote for your quarter
Have you voted yet?
Oklahoma’s commemorative quarter will be issued early next year and Oklahomans have the chance to choose its design.
Don’t put it off. You only have two weeks to vote for your favorite.
The vote on the quarter begins today and ends at 5 p.m. April 27.
You may look at the designs and vote for your choice by going to this Web site: www.gov.ok.gov/coin.php. One vote per computer is allowed.
People without easy access to the Internet can mail their preference to:
State Quarter Contest
Office of the Governor, Suite 212
State Capitol Building
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
This continues a design selection process that Gov.…
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Commendable campaign
What started in an Oklahoma classroom as a letter-writing campaign to support American military personnel serving abroad has spread to several states and countries.
Spencer Cluff, who started his Operation Kids4Troops in his MetroTech classroom, said more than 100,000 letters have been sent to troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and aboard ships.
He received a commendation today from Gov. Brad Henry for his efforts.
“I’m going to do it until they all get back from Iraq and Afghanistan,” Cluff said.…
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Oklahomans will soon see money trail
A bill seemingly destined for law passed the House today that will let Oklahomans see exactly how government is spending taxpayer dollars.
The legislation–Senate Bill 1–will create a Web site, where people can go and see how much money each state agency receives from the state and how each one uses the money it is given. State contracts and grants will also be detailed.
The bill passed without opposition in the House and Senate, a rare occurrence at the Capitol. Lawmakers on both sides say the bill will open up government and fuel accountability.…
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45th Division Appreciation Day
Gov. Brad Henry will speak Tuesday to a joint session of the Oklahoma Legislature which is meeting to honor the 45th Division and the Oklahoma National Guard.
The joint session begins at 9:30 a.m. in the state House of Representatives Chamber.
The Division was organized in 1923 and fought in World War II and the Korean War.
It was retired in 1968 in a nationwide reoganization of the National Guard.
Some members of the Oklahoma Army National Guard are in units that still wear the 45th Division “Thunderbird” shoulder patch.…
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Military bases left out of budget proposal
Oklahoma’s five military installations – which state officials said were a major priority when under a federal magnifying glass two years ago – were shut out of receiving state funds in the budget proposal that won overwhelming legislative support.
The Oklahoma Strategic Military Planning Commission’s request for $3 million was not included in the $6.87 billion budget package lawmakers approved last month. Gov. Brad Henry since has vetoed the proposal; no progress has been made on coming up with a new budget.…
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