Agricultural News
More Regulatory Power for County Commissioners Concerns Oklahoma Farm Bureau and Other Ag Groups
Thu, 10 Feb 2022 17:08:18 CST
The first week of the 2022 Oklahoma State Legislative Session is now in the record books- and according to Steve Thompson, the Vice President of Public Policy for the Oklahoma Farm Bureau- the State Legislature has jumped out to a rocket fast start in considering bills in Committees on both sides of the Capitol.
After Monday afternoon's State of the State Address by Governor Kevin Stitt, Committees were actively meeting and acting on dozens of bills starting Tuesday morning.
Oklahoma Farm Report's Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays talked with Thompson on Thursday afternoon and Thompson shared details of several issues that had caught the attention of the state's general farm organization.
Thompson tells Hays that Two bills, HB2990 and SB1182, are very concerning for Agriculture, Energy and other groups as they could result in a "fundamental shift in how we do county government in Oklahoma." The measures would allow County Commissioners to basically regulate anything that they are not specifically prohibited from doing in current state law. Thompson says Farm Bureau and other groups fear that could result in patchwork of regulations and rules that would be vastly different from one county from another in the unincorporated parts of Oklahoma.
HB2990 says "The board of county commissioners shall have the power to: 1. In the conduct of county business, adopt, amend, repeal, and enforce rules, regulations, policies, procedures and codes necessary or proper to carry out the duties, responsibilities and functions of the county which are not otherwise specifically prohibited by any rule or law of this state."
The Senate version of this proposal has not been scheduled for Committee consideration yet- but the House version is set to be considered by the County and Municipal Committee on Monday. Supporters of this bill may significant opposition in place by the first of the week.
Thompson also commented on the quick move to report a Sales Tax exemption for groceries out of Committee as one of several measures that will have to do with a broader plan of both tax cuts as well as efforts to up the cap on the rainy day fund to allow lawmakers to save some of the extra tax dollars that they apparently will be making decisions on in this session.
Still to come in the next couple of weeks, according to Thompson, will be multiple measures that could impose additional oversight and regulation on the Medical Marijuana industry- especially grow houses that are found across the entire state. That will include a likely increase in application fees for grow houses- and the possible to make the OMMA(the Oklahoma Medical marijuan Authority) a stand alone state agency.
You can listen to Steve Thompson talk with Ron Hays on these issues and more by clicking on the Listen Bar below.
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