LINCOLN TO LOCAL: AD VALOREM TAXES AND WIND DEVELOPMENT
A month into the 2017 legislative session, LeeAnna McNally gives an update on the status of bills at the state Capitol including ad valorem taxes and wind industry development.
TOP HEADLINES
OKFB members hear from state leaders, legislators during leadership conference:
Farm Bureau leaders from across the state gathered to discuss policy for agriculture and rural Oklahoma during the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Legislative Leadership Conference in Oklahoma City March 6-7 [Oklahoma Farm Bureau].
Seminole prepares for rural charter school experiment:
While the Academy of Seminole hopes to attract new families to town, it also will rely on current public school students making the switch [The Oklahoman].
Ethics questions dogged agriculture nominee as Georgia governor:
During the wait for Mr. Perdue’s confirmation hearing, some in the farming industry have come to his defense. “I don’t think you are going to find a man any more honorable than Sonny Perdue,” said Zippy Duvall, a Georgia cattle and poultry farmer who is the president of the American Farm Bureau Federation [New York Times].
Senate panel considers how to fund Trump’s $1T infrastructure package:
In an address to Congress last month, Trump reiterated his commitment and called on Congress to move a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal that would be “financed through both public and private capital” [The Hill].
Lawmakers eye WOTUS, social cost of carbon, harbors in spending bills:
With Obama in office, the riders blocking WOTUS did not make their way into a final spending deal. This year, however, GOP lawmakers have President Donald Trump on their side [Morning Consult].
BILLS WE’RE WATCHING
SB345 by Sen. David Holt: Allows municipalities to create protection districts which may levy assessments on property to support the district to assist with public safety expenses.
SB395 by Senate Pro Tem Mike Schulz: Creates numerous provisions regarding notice about construction of a wind facility; removes prior notice requirements; clarifies the name of a pertinent act.
HB1374 by Rep. Weldon Watson: Allows municipalities to create Public Safety Protection Districts; defines the ad valorum procedure within such a district.
HB2298 by Speaker Charles McCall and Sen Pro Tem Mike Schulz: Modifies a tax credit for electricity generated by zero emission facilities. The measure changes the date in which assets must be placed in operation by to July 1, 2017. Currently, assets placed in operation prior to January 1, 2021 are eligible for the credit.
HB2301 by Speaker Charles McCall: Exempts from income tax compensation directly related to the practice of medicine or osteopathic medicine by a qualifying doctor in a rural area of Oklahoma.
OKFB HONORS 2016 CHAMPION AWARD RECIPIENTS
County Farm Bureau leaders and more than 40 legislators gathered to honor the nine individuals named OKFB Champions during the OKFB Legislative Leadership Conference March 6. OKFB Champion Award recipients are featured below. Also honored, but unable to attend, were Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, House Speaker Charles McCall and Sen. Don Barrington.
MEET THE LEGISLATOR: SEN. AJ GRIFFIN
As an OKFB Champion Award recipient and rural caucus chair, Griffin explains her priorities for the 2017 legislative session and discusses its focus on rural Oklahoma.
