Agricultural News
Senate Review by Senator Roland Pederson
Mon, 28 Mar 2022 16:13:28 CDT
We're now entering into the second half of the legislative session. We've advanced Senate bills from our committees and floor to the House, and we'll now begin studying and voting on the measures our colleagues across the rotunda sent to our chamber.
This year, I've signed on to be the Senate author of nine House Bills. These vary in topic, ranging from naming the Holy Bible as the state book to modernizing how counties can submit records of conviction for larceny of livestock to the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture.
I'm particularly excited to be the Senate author for HB 3166, which would create the Southeast Asia Trade Office in Taipei, Taiwan. The office would be an administrative component of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and would serve to facilitate economic relationships between Oklahoma businesses and those in southeast Asia.
I was honored to represent our state on an agricultural trade mission to promote our state's interests in Taiwan back in 2019. We advocated for Oklahoma's global interests with the Asian country, and we truly are in a strong position to trade and invest with Taiwan, especially since they seek high-quality agricultural products. Creating this office will create an even stronger partnership with the Taiwanese people and ensure profitable trade relations for years to come.
One of the Legislature's largest concerns this session is better regulating the medical marijuana industry. It truly has gotten out of hand because of how loosely written State Question 788 was when voters passed this constitutional amendment in 2018. This industry is impacting rural Oklahoma especially hard, as we've all seen our state's farmland being bought at astronomical prices from foreign investors looking to start marijuana grows.
I'm a member of the Medical Marijuana Working Group and am diligently collaborating with my colleagues to help find solutions to protect those following our laws, while weeding out the bad actors who are establishing illegal grows and practices. I'm also proud to be the co-author of several measures dealing with marijuana, including a bill to steepen the penalties for people distributing pot to those without a medical license.
I'm also a co-author for the Save Women's Sports Act, which would ensure only biological females can play on sports teams designated for women and girls. We must protect our daughters, granddaughters, nieces and other female family members from being forced to play sports with biological males who identify as female. The bottom line is male and female bodies are different, with boys having distinct physical advantages over most girls. It's certainly unfair to make our women and girls compete for scholarships and awards against those who have a distinct biological advantage.
I'm also the co-author of SB 1100, which specifies that "male" and "female" are the only sex designations listed on Oklahoma birth certificates. This is a response to the State Department of Health's decision to add an "X" designation to birth certificates for those who don't identify with either gender. We must follow the science and put a stop to this silliness.
Please don't forget about the Grant County Town Hall in Medford on Friday, April 1 at 10 a.m. It will be held in the community room at the Medford City Office, and I'm looking forward to seeing many of you there.
Finally, we celebrated Ag Day at the Capitol last week and it was great to see so many of our agriculture advocates out and about educating lawmakers and other Capitol employees and visitors about the industry. Kay County farmer Don Schieber received the 2022 Governor's Outstanding Achievement in Agriculture Award, an honor that I know he is very deserving of. A passionate agriculturist, he is an excellent wheat farmer and raises the bar for all of us involved in ag. Congratulations, Don.
Thank you for allowing me to serve as your state Senator. Please feel free to reach out if there is anything I can help you with. You can contact me at 405-521-5630 or via email at Roland.Pederson@oksenate.gov.
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