Agricultural News
OKFB State Resolutions Committee Sees Three Ms as Top Concerns
Mon, 25 Oct 2021 14:21:07 CDT
Last week, the Oklahoma Farm Bureau held its annual State Resolutions Committee meetings. Unsurprisingly, Oklahoma's medical marijuana industry was the top priority from the county level. Steve Thompson, senior director of public policy for the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, talked about some of the resolutions that are moving to the next phase with Radio Oklahoma's own Ron Hays.
"That was clearly the number-one topic," Thompson said.
After reading each proposed resolution, OKFB leadership narrowed down a few key takeaways to address the medical marijuana industry issue in the state, according to Thompson. First, producers called for more support for enforcement of the laws already on the books, Thompson said.
"Clearly there is concern that there are flaws in the law, but what we have maybe has not been held up as strong and as vigorously as we would like," Thompson said. "Supporting the state in that way and modifying for increases in license fees and dedicating that money back to the enforcement of those rules and laws.
"The other thing that we heard more than anything, all year long, was how do (producers) spray their crops with herbicides. No one can figure out exactly how to limit the liability of an applicator that is applying chemicals next door to a medical marijuana facility - Along with that, they would like to see a little more transparency in the ownership information of these growing operations - posting that information for neighbors to see would be a step in the right direction."
Beyond medical marijuana, two recurring topics were vaccine mandates and the Supreme Court's McGirt ruling, Thompson said.
"There are three Ms that we talked about this summer and fall: marijuana, mandates and - the McGirt Supreme Court case," Thompson said. "Our folks generally oppose mandates of any kind. They proposed a policy that would oppose government mandates.
"Our folks reaffirmed our policy position - where we have been on a number of years on that case. There were a lot of specific conversations about fear of ownership of mineral and water rights and could this extend in a way that threatens ownership of things that are considered settled laws and steeled private property rights."
Beyond that, Thompson said there was strong opposition to the federal government tracking bank transactions. He said there was also a conversation around initiative petition reform on the state level.
Hit the LISTEN BAR below to hear Ron Hays and Steve Thompson as they discuss the latest from last week's State Resolutions Committee meetings for the Oklahoma Farm Bureau.
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