Bills have been filed and legislative sessions are rapidly approaching the nation as we press further into 2019. Bartlesville's Senator Julie Daniels says the Republican Senate has recently rolled out their four point for the Republican Caucus Agenda for this year.

One point revolves around the establishment of a legislative budget office to give greater accountability as to where tax payer dollars go. Daniels explains that she was in public safety and judiciary budget sessions last week and earlier this week which alone account for 8.8-percent of all the money spent. There are 16 divisions or courts in those groups that require accountability and transparency on top of other committees that require transparency.

Another focus for the Republican Senate is education. Daniels says they are going to protect the $6.9 million investment in students and teachers. They also want to restore 5-day school weeks while exempting those school districts that show they haven't fallen in performance with a 4-day school week.

Daniels says they focused on this aspect of education in Oklahoma because they wanted to eliminate the argument that they didn't have enough money to have kids in school five days a week. She also says that teacher pay raise and the operational dollars for that from last year will remain in place.

As for the other main points in the Republican Caucus Agenda, the Republican Senate wants to focus on giving Gov. Kevin Stitt and future governors more appointment power. They also want to further criminal justice reform by investing more in mental health and drug abuse diversion programs.