OKAgPolicy Today is a morning email containing the day’s top agriculture and policy headlines. The inclusion of a particular story does not equal an endorsement. Subscribe to the email here.
TOP HEADLINES
Oklahoma lawmakers could call special legislative session to distribute budget surplus:
If trends hold and Oklahoma ends the fiscal year with a $100 million budget surplus, two main scenarios have emerged for how the money would be allocated [NewsOK].
Oklahoma finance officials confirm revenue surplus likely:
Budget cuts of 7 percent ordered for Oklahoma’s public schools and other state services likely were deeper than necessary, and the state will finish the fiscal year on June 30 with surplus revenue that could be allocated back to agencies, state finance officials confirmed on Monday [Journal Record].
Southeast Oklahoma lawmakers ask attorney general to weigh in on water board beef:
State Rep. Brian Renegar, D-McAlester, and three of his House colleagues on Monday wrote a letter to Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt asking for his opinion on whether it’s legal for members of the state Water Resources Board to stay on the OWRB even after their positions have been eliminated [StateImpact Oklahoma].
Oklahoma will vote on right to farm this November:
Oklahoma farmers and ranchers will face HSUS head on as the agricultural industry attempts to pass a Right to Farm measure on the ballot this November [BEEF Magazine].
Stand up for GMO foods by labeling them:
With the recent release of another exhaustive report by the National Academies of Sciences attesting to the safety of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, it is time for the food industry and advocates of genetically engineered crops to stand up for their products and put a label on them [Wall Street Journal].
Farm Bureau busy ahead of presidential election:
With the presidential election five months away, the American Farm Bureau Federation is busy doing its homework on Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton [Capital Press].
As food crisis worsens, Venezuelans loot almost-empty stores:
Economic conditions have become so bad that Venezuelans are ransacking grocery stores — even though many are largely empty [NPR].
