OKLAHOMA CITY – Two local legislators have teamed up to try to bring added responsibility to the process by which Oklahoma's Higher Education system has gone into debt.

State Senator Patrick Anderson became concerned after learning that Oklahoma Higher Education Regents had issued more than 250 million dollars of long term debt over the past few years. The debt was issued without legislative oversight. Anderson worked with officials from Higher Education, the Attorney General's office and the State Bond Council to draft a proposal that would set a cap on the ability of Higher Ed to issue personal property debt, and to require Higher Ed to allow legislative oversight of other real property bonded indebtedness. The proposal was placed into Senate Bill 1398.

"It is important for the people's Representatives to have a voice in how the people's money is being spent," Anderson said.

Anderson won approval of the Oklahoma State Senate for Senate Bill 1398 and asked local Representative Jason Murphey to help by authoring the bill in the House of Representatives.

"Limiting the ability of the government to issue long term debt has always been one of my biggest goals," Murphey said, "so it was a real honor for me to be asked by Anderson to be the House Author of the bill."

Murphey achieved the approval of the House of Representatives for the bill.

Senate Bill 1398 now returns to the Senate where Anderson and Murphey will attempt to reconcile differences in the House and Senate bills.