Vice President for Public Policy with Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Steve Thompson, says the final days of April saw the impasse between the Senate, the House and Governor over an Education Funding deal continue with no immediate resolution in sight.
Thompson tells Oklahoma Farm Report’s Ron Hays that much of the work that otherwise would be moving forward has been pulled into that battle. “so many issues get drawn into that orbit- this past week the Governor took to vetoing a large group of Senate passed bills and the Senate then retaliated by voting down a couple of the Governor’s Cabinet Secretary’s confirmations- there are still a few rank and file bills moving- mainly House bills at this time but the pressure on the budget overall led by the education funding has drawn the attention of everybody and that’s all anyone is talking about.”
The Governor has offered a compromise on Education that took ideas from both the House and Senate proposals- the House has shown interest in the Governor’s plan but Senate leadership has ignored the Governor’s compromise and that has resulted in the current impasse.
One measure that seems close to a final vote in the House is a priority of the Ag Groups- House Bill 2053. Thompson says 2053 has passed the House and Senate and has been largely finished in the Senate and has come back to the House for final approval of the language. He says that this measure, authored by David Hardin in the House and Brent Howard in the Senate, is all about water and water rights- and basically protects a farmer, rancher or landowner’s rights when they apply for a water permit for a legitimate purpose. It would stop opponents of production agriculture to simply protest because they don’t like agriculture- they can only protest if they have evidence that the permit would result in pollution or degradation of the water supply that overlies the property linked to the permit.
This measure has come from a fight between an Eastern Oklahoma poultry grower and activists that saw the grower lose his water permit and was forced out of business.
Thompson says that several Ag Groups at the Capitol believe that “If we don’t address this, it could really spread to any type of farm or ranch operation- it could serve as a playbook for environmental activists that just simply don’t like what we do in agriculture” but it does offer protections to the water supply when a genuine concern is raised about the supply or availability of ground water.
The measure is ready for final House consideration- “we are talking to House members about that everyday now- feeling really good about the feedback we are receiving on that- however we are not sure if that is going to make it on the agenda or not so that’s why we are putting it on everybody’s radar to let them know it’s important to all of agriculture and we want to make sure everyone realizes that so it can get a full floor hearing as a final vehicle in the House of Represnatives.
Listen to Hays and Steve Thompson discuss HB 2053 and where we are in getting a successful finish to the 2023 Legislative session as we arrive at the first of May. Click on the Play Button at the top of this story.
