A bill that takes money from a program for needy Oklahoma families and directs that it be used to create an advertising campaign to promote marriage has cleared the Oklahoma House.

The House voted 71-27 Wednesday for the bill sponsored by Republican House Speaker T.W. Shannon of Lawton. The proposal calls for the creation of a statewide public service announcement campaign that promotes marriage as a tool against poverty.

Oklahoma State University President Burns Hargis has been replaced on the Board of Directors of Chesapeake Energy. A news release on the company's website says the board accepted Hargis' resignation effective immediately.

Board Chairman Archie Dunham announced Thursday that Louis A. Raspino has been elected to fill the vacancy and has been appointed chairman of the audit committee. He will stand for election at the 2013 annual meeting of shareholders in June.

Wednesday night it was dinner with a small group of Republican lawmakers.

Thursday it's lunch with 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.

Next week, the president is due to have lunch with more Republican senators.

  Oklahoma's attorney general has told a federal appeals court the Environmental Protection Agency exceeded its authority in creating regional haze guidelines for the state.

Attorney General Scott Pruitt was in Denver Wednesday to argue the state's case before the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Showers and thunderstorms are expected Saturday as a storm system moves in from the Southern Rockies.

The U.S. Geological Survey reports a 3.4 magnitude  earthquake has been recorded near Prague in central Oklahoma. The Lincoln County Office of Emergency Management says there were no injuries  or damage reported.

The USGS says the quake was recorded at 12:24 p.m. yesterday about 6 miles  northwest of Prague. That's about 40 miles east of Oklahoma City.

Update at 12:45 p.m. ET. One Measure Approved So Far:

"The Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation Thursday making gun trafficking a federal crime as lawmakers cast the first vote in Congress to curb firearms since December's horrific shootings at a Connecticut elementary school," The Associated Press writes.

 A legislative plan to pave the way for a horse slaughtering facility in Oklahoma is drawing fierce opposition from animal  rights groups.

Several animal protection groups plan to rally at the state Capitol Thursday for "Humane Lobby Day" and urge legislators to oppose the bill to allow horse  slaughtering in the state.

As we await Friday's much-anticipated report about the February unemployment rate and how many jobs were added to employers' payrolls last month, there are these new bits of economic data to chew over:

-- The Employment and Training Administration says there were 340,000 first-time claims for unemployment insurance last week. That's down from 7,000 the previous week. Claims continue at a pace that's the lowest since first-quarter 2008.

After nearly 13 hours during which he had only a few short breaks while sympathetic senators took over the talking, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky ended his filibuster of John Brennan's CIA nomination early Thursday.