Agricultural News
State Legislature Finishes Second Major Deadline Week- Many Priorities for Farm Groups Passed From One Side of the State Capitol to the Other Side This Week
Fri, 25 Mar 2022 05:08:20 CDT
The final moments of the first half of the 2022 Oklahoma legislative session ticked down on Thursday- and as the second major deadline week wrapped up, Steve Thompson, Oklahoma Farm Bureau Vice President of Public Policy, talked with Oklahoma Farm Report's Ron Hays about the bills that did advance out of their originating chamber- and one significant one that did not.
Thompson says that the so called voucher bill for common education that was proposed by Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat failed on a late night Wednesday vote 22-24. The bill that failed would have allowed parents to take a portion of the public money allocated for a student and use it for other educational choices outside of their home district. While the Senate leadership pushed hard for this bill- with the blessing of Governor Kevin Stitt- the Speaker of the House, Charles McCall, was not a fan and pledged the bill would not get a hearing in the House if it passed the Senate.
Thompson says while this specific bill is dead- he doesn't think the issue itself will disappear- maybe even yet this year or else in future sessions.
Thompson told Hays that Farm Bureau was pleased to see Medical Marijuana bills continue to move- at the end of this week- that movement was happening in the Senate. We now have proposals addressing transparency of grow houses, the amount to be charged for fees and even clarity on the liability of farmers and ranchers that have had a grow house move close to them and what the farmer/rancher's rights are regarding spraying Federally labeled ag chemicals without fear of laibility. Thompson says in the Senate "there were 11 bills that were on our priority list...all those are just chugging right along" and successfully moved out of the Senate to be considered by the House starting this coming week.
One issue that was perhaps the "story of the week" had to do with right of companies being able to run fiber optic cable on the poles of Electric Cooperatives without having to pay exorbitant rates to the Coops that would make it difficult for those companies to offer broadband to homes and businesses along those country roads. "There's been a discussion about if a telecomunications company seeks to use an Electric Coop pole to run fiber for broadband- how much should they have to pay to attach to their poles- because it doesn't make any sense for landowners to add new poles along the right of way so there has to be a mutually agreeable solution there." Thompson adds that it's important that Coops were adequately compensated but not allowing them to being able to stop other companies from using their poles by charging an unreasonable amount per pole.
A relatively new player in the rural broadband conversation- Hilliary Communications- pushed for a legislative solution- Thompson says "our friends at Hilliary Communications played a vital role in making that deal happen- and we are proud of the efforts they did- they were at the Capitol quite a bit this week." He says the compromise worked out will allow these telecommunication players to have the opportunity to provide service to rural residents with broadband they have not had in the past.
Thompson says one other issue that appeared out of nowhere that Farm Bureau and Oklahoma Cattlemen worked together on in recent days was some language that may be deleted if a bill offered by Senator Brent Howard from southwest Oklahoma is passed into law- the language would remove the ability of county assessors to ask for details about ag production not yet used or sold found on a farm or ranch- things like the number of bales of hay or the number of bushels of grain in the farmer owned storage unit- Steve Thompson says he thinks the language offered by Senator Howard will take care of the worry that some of their members had brought up to the OkFB Public Policy team.
Hays and Thompson also talked about reaching halftime and what was ahead as the Senate considers House Bills and vice versa. You can hear their complete discussion by clicking on the Listen Bar below.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...
