Bills passed to comply with court order

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The Oklahoma Senate passed 16 bills on Wednesday to comply with a court order knocking out an omnibus $70 million funding bill passed a year ago. <br><br>In December, the Oklahoma

Wednesday, February 6th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The Oklahoma Senate passed 16 bills on Wednesday to comply with a court order knocking out an omnibus $70 million funding bill passed a year ago.

In December, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in favor of Republican lawmakers who argued the 2001 ``reconciliation'' measure violated a constitutional provision against lumping several appropriations together.

The court subsequently stayed its order until Feb. 15, allowing agencies to spend the money and giving legislators time to approve the appropriations in a different form.

Republican senators voted against some of the appropriations Wednesday, arguing that some of the money should be reserved to ease budget cuts planned for the next fiscal year.