The goal is to increase the number of Sooners with health insurance coverage.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Gov. Brad Henry signed two measures Monday that are designed to increase the number of Oklahomans with health insurance.

He also signed a variety of measures dealing with water quality, sex offenders, charter schools and ethics.

Dozens of agency appropriation measures also were signed.

"One of every five Oklahomans lacks health insurance," Henry said in a prepared statement. "That is a problem affecting the insured and un- insured alike."

He said the two measures are the most important passed this year and will help more Oklahomans than anything else done during the legislative session.

Henry signed Senate Bill 424 by Sen. Tom Adelson, D-Tulsa, and Rep. Doug Cox, R-Grove, to provide 42,000 more children with health-insurance coverage.

Under the measure, Medicaid eligibility will rise to 300 percent of the federal poverty level -- or about $61,950 for a family of four -- from 185 percent -- or about $38,202 for a family of four, said Jo Kilgore, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority's public information manager.

The new law gives families access to private insurance or employer-sponsored insurance for dependent children age 18 and younger through a voucher or subsidy program.

The program will be funded by revenues from an increase in the tobacco tax.

Henry also signed House Bill 1225 by Rep. Chris Benge, R-Tulsa, and Sen. Johnnie Crutchfield, D-Ardmore, which extends eligibility for Insure Oklahoma to businesses with 250 or fewer employees and to workers who are paid as much as 250 percent of the federal poverty level. That's an increase from 185 percent of the poverty level.

For a family of four, 250 percent of the federal poverty level is an income of $51,625, Kilgore said.

The program had been limited to small businesses with no more than 50 employees.

Under Insure Oklahoma, the state pays 60 percent of the insurance costs. The employer pays 25 percent. The employee pays the remaining 15 percent.

According to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, Oklahoma has one of the highest rates of uninsured residents in the country.

About 42 percent of businesses with fewer than 50 employees and 17 percent with 50 to 249 employees do not offer health insurance coverage, according to the agency.

Both measures were part of Henry's 2007 legislative agenda.

Among the other bills Henry signed were:

HB 1490, designed to protect the Eucha-Spavinaw watershed, which supplies most of Tulsa's drinking water.

The measure, by Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Tulsa, and Sen. Mary Easley, D-Tulsa, codifies a settlement reached in a lawsuit that the city of Tulsa brought against several poultry companies.

It sets limits on how much poultry litter can be spread as fertilizer. It also directs the Department of Agriculture to write and enforce rules governing the issue so the court won't have to continue its jurisdiction after February.

HB 2110, which prohibits contributions from being made on the state Capitol grounds. It also limits honorariums given to lawmakers and requires more accounting from out-of-state contributors.

HB 1760, which creates a tiered classification system for sex offenders to determine how long the person must remain on the sex offender registry.

HB 1589, by Sen. Judy Eason McIntyre, D-Tulsa, and Reps. Jabar Shumate, D-Tulsa, and Tad Jones, R-Claremore, which allows universities in Tulsa and Oklahoma City to sponsor charter schools.

Under current law, only individual school districts and CareerTech boards can sponsor charter schools.

HB 1895, which creates the Oklahoma Youth and Gang violence Coordinating Council, to be charged with reviewing current anti-gang efforts in Oklahoma. The panel will recommend strategies to reduce gang violence.

Barbara Hoberock (405) 528-2465
barbara.hoberock@tulsaworld.com