A bill that would reduce the amount of tax subsidies paid to wind producers in Oklahoma has been unanimously approved by the House of Representatives.

The House voted 89-0 on Monday for the bill by Bartlesville Republican Rep. Earl Sears. It now heads to the full Senate for consideration.

Oklahoma's governor would have broad new powers to appoint the directors of ten different state entities under a bill narrowly passed by a Senate committee.

The Senate General Government Committee voted 5-4 on Monday for the bill by Broken Arrow Republican Sen. Nathan Dahm, despite concerns it gives the governor too much power. Dahm says he expects the bill to be rewritten.

The bill calls for the heads of ten different state agencies and boards to be fired effective Jan. 1 and allows the governor to name their replacement.

An Ardmore company has been awarded a $9.5 million contract to build a new weigh and inspection station on Interstate 35 just north of the Texas border.

The Oklahoma Transportation Commission voted Monday to award the contract to Overland Corporation of Ardmore. Construction on the new station 12 miles north of the Oklahoma-Texas border is expected to begin the spring and take a little more than a year to complete.

Despite a budget hole of $611 million, a court-ordered reform of Oklahoma’s child welfare system will be funded for the 2016 fiscal year, the chairmen of the Legislature’s budget-writing committees said Monday.  

State Sen. Clark Jolley, R-Edmond, said the Department of Human Services’ Pinnacle Plan would be funded for the next fiscal year.

“It’s not up for debate,” said Jolley, chairman of the Senate’s Appropriations Committee. “The Pinnacle Plan will be funded.”

Rep. Earl Sears, R-Bartlesville, who is House budget chair, agreed.

A new report suggests economic growth is ahead for nine Midwestern and Plains states.

The survey report issued Monday says the overall Mid-America Business Conditions Index climbed to 57.0 in February from 54.8 in January.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says the regional growth is likely although areas "linked closely to the energy sector, including ethanol, are experiencing pullbacks in economic activity."

Oklahoma City police say a man has died at a hospital after officers used a stun gun on him during an arrest.

Police Master Sgt. Gary Knight says officers responded Sunday night to a report of a man breaking and smashing things inside an apartment.

Knight says the man's roommates were able to get him out of the residence, but that he kicked in the door and continued being aggressive. When officers arrived, Knight says the man became involved in an altercation with them.

Unresolved issues tied to education, incarceration and mental health services will hamstring Oklahoma’s ability to remain among the nation’s top 5 fastest growing economies, a panel of government officials and economists concluded during the Oklahoma Policy Institute’s 2nd Annual State Budget Summit.

On January 29, OPI Director of Policy Gene Perry led the panel through “An Economic Check-Up” of the state’s current economic conditions and fiscal policies. 

Construction starts Monday on a $71 million project to widen Interstate 35 through Norman to six lanes.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation estimates the project should be completed in about two years, with about $2 million in financial incentives to finish early.