State lawmakers will head into special session Sept. 25 to address the $215 million budget hole created from the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s overturn of the state Legislature’s $1.50-per-pack cigarette fee.  In February, legislators began the 2017 legislative session facing a nearly $900 million budget shortfall. A wide variety of revenue-raising measures were considered including a gross production tax increase, a cigarette tax increase, a fuel tax increase and a reduction in the earned income tax credit.  Gov. Mary Fallin officially called the special session on Sept. 15, asking the state Legislature to address the immediate budget shortfall, find long-term solutions […]

On behalf of Oklahoma’s farmers and ranchers, Oklahoma Farm Bureau President Tom Buchanan this week urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to repeal the 2015 Waters of the United States rule. The EPA and the Corps have proposed a rule to rescind the 2015 WOTUS rule and restore it to pre-2015 language, thanks to a June 2017 executive order from President Donald Trump. The current rulemaking is the first in a two-step process, as the second step will clarify the definition of “waters of the U.S.” “Oklahoma doesn’t need additional murky regulations from […]

More than 450 Oklahoma Farm Bureau members recently urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to repeal the 2015 Waters of the U.S. rule. County Farm Bureaus collected more than 300 signatures over a two-week period, while other members submitted written comments at the organization’s annual August Area Meetings. Finalized in June 2015, the WOTUS rule has been despised by farmers, ranchers and landowners across the country. The rule vastly expanded the definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act, granting the EPA and the Corps regulatory authority over virtually […]