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
Farmer for Yes on SQ777: ‘Ask farmers what they think’:
Why do organizations, from sorghum and cotton to cattle and pigs, all support SQ 777? Because they know how important SQ 777 is to their farmer and ranch members. Because families like mine are standing up for the Right to Farm [NonDoc].
Water bill with Flint aid moves ahead in Senate:
The Senate moved closer on Monday to wrapping up work on $9.4 billion waterways bill that provides emergency funding for lead-contaminated communities such as Flint, Mich [The Hill].
STATE
Oklahoma state lawmakers invite California farmers to move their operations to Oklahoma:
These Representatives today started sending out invitations to farmers and ranchers in California to consider relocating to Oklahoma. This is due to recent legislation in California that will push family farms out of business by unnecessary statutes and agency rules [Oklahoma Farm Report].
FEDERAL
US infrastructure and rural prosperity: Are we falling behind?:
“One of the reasons American agriculture is so competitive is our infrastructure,” says Andrew Walmsley, an American Farm Bureau Federation expert who advocates for strong infrastructure to serve the country’s farmers…But in more recent years, he says, “There has definitely been some hand-wringing over the health of that infrastructure” [Agri-Pulse].
Election-year drama colors budget fight:
President Obama on Monday urged congressional leaders to avert a government shutdown ahead of the Oct. 1 deadline, with election politics looming large over the discussion [The Hill].
ELECTIONS
Gov. Fallin to pitch ideas to new legislators if teacher raise vote fails:
The governor said she has offered plans like consolidating some school services to save money, cutting tax credits and tapping into revolving funds [News 9].
Legal experts fear slew of lawsuits if state question passes:
There’s a war over a Ten Commandments monument that used to sit outside the state capitol. If one lawmaker has his way, it’ll sit there again after you vote in November. But some legal experts are warning that a vote for moving the monument back could mean a costly legal battle [KFOR].
MISCELLANEOUS
Agriculture reacts to California’s new overtime law:
California Gov. Edmund Brown doesn’t need to please farmers anymore as he will be termed out of office in a couple years and someone new, with probably the same penchant for over-regulating the state’s farmers, will take his place in the state capitol.That said, Gov. Brown signed AB 1066 into law, a bill that forces farmers to pay their employees overtime after eight hours per day [Western Farm Press].
