Government Reform

            Modernization, streamlining and improved efficiency

• SB 1865: Accountability and Innovation Act – creates a committee to review state agencies and tax incentives to ensure that taxpayer funds are being used efficiently and effectively
• SB 1641*: Closes loophole in elected officials’ retirement benefits to ensure that retirement income never exceeds salary earned
• SB 1987: Would let voters decide whether to limit all statewide elected officials to a maximum of 12 years in office
• SB 1150: Ensures integrity of our voting process by requiring verification of identity when voting
• SB 1189: Improves efficiency of state purchasing practices and tracking of state property while requiring the adoption of business recommendations estimated to save $25 million annually
• HB 3325*: Will save the state substantial time and money by modernizing the state's invoicing process to allow for vendors to be paid electronically
• SB 1553: Authorizes creation of Enterprise Agencies to provide extra incentives for agencies which implement cost savings and/or better delivery of services
• SB 1807: Centralizes the state’s information systems and information technology, as well as the financial and management information services for the state
• SB 1038: Requires the State Regents to make publicly available on their web site any reports regarding tuition and fees at the state’s higher education institutions, plus copies of any audits conducted for the institutions
• HB 3394: Requires state buildings to adopt construction and design features that will result in long-term energy use savings for the state
• HB 2775: Establishes a statewide water portal system to connect web sites and information of all state water agencies

Education

            Increasing standards and improving accountability

• SB 2100: Provides parents more options in their children’s education by allowing up to 10 schools across the state to voluntarily deregulate from state mandates in an effort to achieve better results
• SB 1795: Brings more accuracy to the disbursement of lottery funds by placing collected lottery revenue in an account to be distributed monthly to Oklahoma’s schools and universities instead of relying on projected revenue
• HB 3118: Expands the Academic Achievement Award Program to allow more teachers to receive bonuses for helping their school rank as either the highest performing or for having achieved the greatest gains among state schools
• HB 3124*: Authorizes schools to utilize temporary teachers from the national Teach for America program to put some of the nation’s best and brightest young people into Oklahoma’s most challenging schools
• SB 1880: Extends Achieving Classroom Excellence II Task Force for an additional year to continue studying ways to improve student achievement
• HB 3102: Sets expectations for Oklahoma students by preventing taxpayer-financed OHLAP scholarship funds from being used to pay for remedial college coursework
• SB 1951: Removes barriers to educational success imposed on children of military families because of frequent moves and deployment of their parents

Stronger and Healthier Families

            Improving physical well-being and increasing public safety

• SB 1600: Increases punishment for crimes or abuse against an elderly or incapacitated person
• SB 1525*: Changes custody proceedings to help achieve the goal of permanent placement of children currently in state custody
• SB 2041: Expands the state’s DNA database to help solve more crimes more quickly and prevent further crimes by unidentified offenders
• SB 2163*: Requires GPS device for defendants who have a protective order issued in a domestic abuse case
• HB 3395: Uses statewide health coordinators to assist elementary schools in implementing health and wellness programs
• SB 2003: Revokes probation for domestic abuse offenders who have unexcused absences from a court-ordered domestic abuse counseling or treatment program
• HB 2704: Keeps registered sex-offenders out of nursing home facilities by establishing a separate facility for these offenders
• HB 2637: Requires courts to make the protection of abused spouses and their children a greater priority in child custody cases
• HB 2469: Protects visitation rights of grandparents in the event of the death of a parent or in adoption proceedings
• HB 3143*: Creates panel to study how to maximize charitable health-care services to Oklahoma’s most needy
• SB 1600: Increases penalties for abuses against the elderly and incapacitated
• SB 1186*: Doubles the amount of physical activity from 60 minutes to 120 minutes per week for students in kindergarten through the fifth grade
• SB 1941: Ensures preparedness of schools in an emergency by requiring schools to annually review and update their disaster and emergency plans
• HB 2239: Expands permission for self-administration of asthma medication to anaphylaxis medication

Growing Oklahoma

            Building a platform for growth and prosperity through tax reforms, legal reforms, and investments in transportation and economic development

• SB 1149: Expands sales tax holiday to include tax-free purchases of school supplies and instructional materials
• SB 1383: Accelerates the repeal of Oklahoma’s death tax, also known as the "estate tax;” saving grieving families an estimated $30.2 million per year beginning Jan. 1, 2009
• SB 1956: Relieves some of the burden of rising property taxes by allowing homestead exemptions to be increased by an amount equal to any increase in inflation
• HB 2458 (vetoed): Creates a more business-friendly environment and helps reduce the cost of health care by requiring civil lawsuits to be accompanied by an affidavit verifying there is merit to the claim
• HB 2706: Increases the state income tax deduction for military income for all active, reserve, and National Guard service members
• HB 3239 & SB 1171: Provides tax incentives for new graduates who work in Oklahoma’s aerospace industry
• HB 3114: Provides tiered income tax deductions for certain positions within fields of aerospace, energy, advanced manufacturing and processing, biotechnology, information technology, and health care industries
• SB 1714: Dedicates at least five percent of the funds available from the state’s Economic Development Generating Excellence (EDGE) fund to Oklahoma’s Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST)
• SB 2016: Exempts from sales tax personal property or services to or by an organization for veterans
• HB 3342 & SB 1141: Increases investments in our roads and bridges

Protecting Life

• SB 1878: (Governor veto overridden) Comprehensive pro-life bill that requires posting of information to protect women from being forced into having an abortion, protects health care professionals’ right to refuse to participate in medical procedures that involve the destruction of human life, and regulates use of the chemical abortion pill, RU-486. The bill also required that before an abortion is performed, a woman is given the opportunity to view an ultrasound with an explanation of what is depicted and prevents the award of damages resulting from “wrongful-life” lawsuits that claim a baby would have been better off aborted.
• HB 1897: Allows felony charges to be filed against a person who assaults a pregnant woman and causes her to miscarry