The Oklahoma State Legislature returned to the House and Senate chambers for the first week in a two-week floor work period. Both chambers have until next Thursday, April 27, to approve bills from the opposite chamber of origin.
HB 1847 by Rep. John Kane and Sen. Grant Green passed the Senate this week with an emergency clause allowing it to go into immediate effect upon approval by the Governor. HB 1847 adds two members to the Emergency Drought Commission, which would allow two members from the Commission to meet and discuss ideas ahead of official meetings without being in violation of the Open Meetings Act.
HB 2863 by Rep. Kevin Wallace and Sen. Chris Kidd was approved by the Senate on Wednesday. HB 2863 creates the Oklahoma State University Veterinary Medicine Authority giving the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine a similar authority that both OSU and OU’s medical colleges have. This will allow for more flexibility and oversight in funding and operations of the vet school to ensure its ability to serve students and producers across the state well into the future.
SB 913 by Sen. Darcy Jech and Rep. Anthony Moore was passed by the House and signed by the Governor this week. SB 913 requires a medical marijuana grower to submit at least a $50,000 bond when applying for a business license with the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority. The bond requirement is to ensure appropriate funds are available to restore the land used for the grow in the instance of abandonment. If OMMA believes the land to be utilized for the grow would require a dollar amount greater than $50,000 to reclaim, they will have the ability under SB 913 to require the licensee to obtain a sufficient bond to cover the estimated restoration costs.
Additionally, if the licensee has owned the land in question for five-years or more, the bonding requirement would be waved. This law will go into effect immediately as both chambers passed an emergency clause with the bill in order that public peace, health, and safety might be preserved.
Next week will be a final race for legislators to get their bills heard on the House and Senate floors in hopes of keeping their legislation alive ahead of the final legislative deadline before Sine Die on May 26, 2023.
For an update on weekly happenings at the Capitol and an outlook on what is ahead, be sure to tune in to Oklahoma Farm Bureau’s Weekly Public Policy Update each Friday at noon.
