The first week of May did not see many bills making progress at the state Capitol due to the continuing logjam over education funding. The House and Senate spent more time behind closed doors in caucus meetings than on their respective chamber floors. The key sticking point centers around rural public schools and whether they should receive more of the proposed additional per pupil funding than their urban counterparts.
Gov. Kevin Stitt and House Republicans have held firm that rural public schools should be a priority consideration of the spending packages due to the vast majority of the proposed private school tax credit funding would be utilized in urban areas. Senate Republicans along with House and Senate Democrats continue to hold the position that proposed additional public-school funding should be distributed equally per pupil for both rural and urban areas.
Three bills of interest to Farm Bureau were signed into law by the Governor this week including:
- SB 488 by Sen. Brent Howard and Rep. Kenton Patzkowsky requires the Oklahoma Wheat Commission to assess a fee upon all wheat sold by Oklahoma producers through commercial channels. The bill will effectively remove the current two cent per bushel checkoff assessment from Oklahoma Statute and allow the OWC to determine the amount in the future.
- SB 648 by Sen. Micheal Bergstrom and Rep. David Hardin will delete the current agricultural sales tax exemption requirement for obtaining a permit to hunt nuisance or damage creating wildlife species at night allowing farmers and to further protect their land and animals.
- HB 2095 by Rep. Jon Echols and Sen. Lonnie Paxton authorizes the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority to permanently revoke the license of any medical marijuana business that intentionally does not pay excise tax on their sales. Additionally, it authorizes OMMA to enter into cooperative agreements with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and Oklahoma Attorney General to investigate and enforce violations of the law. The bill also grants the powers and authority of a peace officer to OBN, OSBI and OAG when enforcing medical marijuana laws, makes it unlawful for a medical marijuana grower to employ undocumented immigrants and limits medical marijuana grower licenses to one per property.
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.
