State legislators will start to consider and act on bills this next week.
For agriculture, Oklahoma lawmakers are focusing on property rights and management this legislative session.
Last year, concerns about the potential use of eminent domain swirled through rural areas and legislature as energy companies and the regional grid raced to build infrastructure to meet Oklahoma's growing electricity needs. Now, multiple measures seek to limit when and how eminent domain can be used.
One such bill is House Bill 3967, which requires a statement to be given to property owners at the beginning of an acquiring process and before purchasing talks. Authored by Rep. Annie Menz, D-Norman, It also requires property owners to be given an appraisal. There are at least 11 bills on the state's eminent domain law; some are shell bills, meaning they are placeholders for future legislative language, so details are sparse.
Bills about foreign land ownership have resurfaced this sessions' filings. Oklahoma has had rules on the books for decades regulating who can buy property in the state, but foreign land ownership has emerged as a focus in recent years.
This session, lawmakers will consider several such bills, including House Bill 3431, written by Rep. Jonathan Wilk, R-Goldsby, which would ban foreign government adversaries owning or having a leasehold interest in oil, gas or other minerals.
Food
For months, food has dominated the headlines as the Make America Healthy Again Movement began to unfold, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants weathered uncertainty and major federal and state changes to SNAP were enacted.
As states including Oklahoma roll out new SNAP restrictions, they are also bracing to pay millions of dollars more for SNAP because of the changes in President Donald Trump's Big Beautiful Bill Act.
This session, SNAP food waivers are at the center of a couple of bills, including Rep. Emily Gise's, R- Oklahoma City, House Bill 2984. It directs the Oklahoma Department of Human Services to ask the U.S. Department of Agriculture to have SNAP be used for only in-state purchases.
Food bills in the House and Senate seek to ban the production or selling of cell-cultivated meat, and some intend to make changes to the Oklahoma Milk and Milk Products Act. Senate Bill 2107, authored by Sen. Grant Green, R-Wellston, allows the sale of raw milk at produce stands and farmers markets. Currently, raw milk can only be sold in on-farm sales directly to consumers.
Unlike raw milk, the milk found in grocery stores and most farmers markets is pasteurized, meaning it's been heated to a certain temperature for a set time to get rid of pathogens like listeria before being sold.
Sen. Randy Grellner's, R-Cushing, Senate Bill 2128 would allow Oklahoma food products that are then sold directly to consumers to be exempt from federal oversight, licensing and food inspection.
Conservation and land management
While lawmakers consider property and food-related bills, they will also look at bills on conservation and land management.
Sen. Casey Murdock's, R-Felt, Senate Bill 2138 makes changes to the Oklahoma Controlled Burn Indemnity Fund. The bill changes the word "controlled" to "prescribed" and limits the funds' reimbursement.
Under the legislation, it won't be used to repay the participating landowner for property damages because of the prescribed fire, and limits the maximum payout to $1 million for losses in one burn.
It also requires people conducting a prescribed burn to notify neighbors 60 days before starting the fire, and to let local fire departments and sheriff's departments know two days ahead of time.
Another measure, House Bill 2988, written by Mike Dobrinski, R-Okeene, makes a tax credit for removing harmful woody species.
Oklahoma lawmakers will also look at a handful of bills on biosolids, which is the leftover solid material from wastewater treatment. Biosolids contain nutrients plants can use, but they also consist of chemicals poured down drains, like PFAS.
One proposal, Sen. Shane Jett's, R-Shawnee, Senate Bill 1799, bans the land application of biosolids and the selling of the material for use as fertilizer.
The bill directs the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality to study and make a long-term plan to ban land application of septage. It also has the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Food and Forestry develop a remediation plan for producers who have had biosolids applied on their land.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
