To better serve our loyal readers, OKAgPolicy Today will become a weekly e-newsletter update beginning next week. The new format will include top headlines from the week along with video updates and more. Stay tuned for this exciting new tool!
TOP HEADLINES
Democrats want to delay Pruitt confirmation vote:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell filed cloture on Monday for a vote on Pruitt later this week. But Democrats want to hold off in case a court requires Pruitt to produce communications documents, including emails, pertaining to his work as Oklahoma attorney general, which could shed more light on his stance on issues relevant to the EPA [Morning Consult].
The trade war comes to the prairie:
When President Donald Trump and free-trade critics fret about the United States’ $500 billion trade deficit, it’s often lost that American farmers run a large and growing surplus, and have been since the 1960s [Politico].
STATE
General revenue continues to fall short of expectations:
Deposits to the state’s primary operating account, the General Revenue Fund, continued to lag expectations in January, officials said Tuesday [Tulsa World].
Oklahoma physicians: Nurse practitioner bill not best for state:
It’s a doubtful proposition that nurse practitioners will flock to rural areas should this bill pass but, even if we believed that would happen, are we OK with creating a two-tier health care system in which urban residents receive one standard of care while rural citizens get another? [NewsOK]
Panel kills bill giving Legislature power over turnpike bonds, tolls:
The measure would have required a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate to sell bonds or to increase tolls [Tulsa World].
WASHINGTON
House Agriculture Committee holding farm bill hearing Wednesday:
The hearing features a panel of economists discussing the challenges farmers and ranchers are facing and providing context for the needs of rural America in the next farm bill [Southeast Ag Net].
EPW considers Endangered Species Act update:
Senate EPW members get their first input on potential ways of updating and modernizing the Endangered Species Act today at 9 a.m. Watch live here: [Senate EPW].
GOP chairman: Trump’s infrastructure plan likely to include more than private cash:
The comments come as rural Republicans have increasingly expressed serious doubt that private investments encouraged by tax credits — the funding tool favored by conservatives and the White House — could fix the infrastructure needs in their communities [The Hill].
Where school choice is an option, rural public schools worry they’ll be left behind:
Washington has long designed education policy to deal with urban and suburban challenges, often overlooking the unique problems that face rural schools [Washington Post].
