The halls of the Oklahoma state Capitol are once again empty after a busy 2025 legislative session. The first session of the 60th Oklahoma Legislature commenced on the first Monday in February and gaveled out on Friday, May 30.
Of the thousands of bills filed at the first of the year, Oklahoma Farm Bureau closely monitored nearly 400 pieces of legislation over the course of the four-month session.
While the 2025 session was fraught with dissent between the legislature and Gov. Kevin Stitt, OKFB members and public policy staff kept their noses to the grindstone and secured passage of several bills relating to the organization’s priority issues in an effort to ensure Oklahoma’s farmers and ranchers can continue producing food, fuel and fiber for their neighbors and fellow Americans.
Private Property Rights
The protection of private property rights has been a top priority for Farm Bureau members since the organization’s inception in 1942. OKFB believes farmers and ranchers know best when it comes to making decisions on how to best care for their land and livestock, and protecting private property rights ensures farmers and ranchers can continue to produce a safe, affordable and abundant food supply for years to come.
OKFB secured passage of three of the organization’s priority bills during the 2025 legislative session, each of which dealt with private property rights. The three OKFB priority bills were either signed by Gov. Stitt or will became law without the governor’s signature.
OKFB priority bill HB 1166 by Rep. Mike Kelley and Sen. Brent Howard requires a majority of landowners to consent before a municipality can annex property. It also includes a provision for forced annexation via a court action when the municipality can prove the landowners would be better off in the municipal limit, and it prohibits adding property taxes for a sinking fund because of a lawsuit settlement or ruling if the property was not part of the municipality at the time of the settlement.
OKFB members have traditionally opposed municipal annexation as it often comes with additional restrictions that could ultimately limit what farmers and ranchers can produce on their land. HB 1166 was signed by the governor and will take effect Nov. 1.
OKFB also saw the passage of another priority bill for the organization, HB 2752, which prohibits the use of eminent domain for renewable energy projects and facilities. The legislation, authored by Rep. Trey Caldwell and Sen. Todd Gollihare, provides another level of protection to Oklahoma’s landowners from losing their land through eminent domain.
The final OKFB priority bill passed into law for 2025 was HB 2756 by Rep. Trey Caldwell and Sen. Grant Green, which became law without the governor’s signature. HB 2756 requires utilities to obtain a certificate of authority from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission before the construction of high voltage transmission lines.
This will require energy companies to declare the proposed location of the lines, notify the affected county commissioners, host a public meeting and assemble a financial impact report. OKFB strongly supported this legislation to ensure improved transparency between energy companies and landowners.
Conversely, OKFB opposed the passage of HB 2036 by Rep. Nick Archer and Sen. Casey Murdock, which eases the process by which the state or a business can take property via eminent domain without paying attorney fees and court costs. OKFB actively opposed the bill throughout session, but it ultimately was approved by the governor in late May.
Lawmakers also passed HB 1103 by Rep. Tom Gann and Sen. Ally Seifried, which requires the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to notify the previous owner of real property taken via eminent domain if it is going to be offered for sale. The previous owner would be offered the real property for no more than the original price, so long as the previous owner did not use federal funds to purchase the property. This OKFB-supported legislation amends existing law that originally applied only to property within five years of the initial taking.
Energy
OKFB hosted numerous town halls last fall in areas where communities were discussing new renewable energy installations. During the meetings, OKFB heard from rural residents about the impact the proposed facilities could have, and Farm Bureau staff presented legal information and resources to help landowners and local communities make beneficial decisions regarding proposed renewable energy installations.
Throughout this process, OKFB gathered feedback from both Farm Bureau members and non-member rural residents that helped set the stage for both OKFB’s grassroots policy development season and the 2025 Oklahoma legislative session where numerous renewable energy-related bills were introduced, discussed and voted upon.
One such bill was HB 1373 by Rep. Brad Boles and Sen. Grant Green, which creates the Commercial Solar Facility Decommissioning Act. This bill requires solar leases to include a provision guaranteeing the removal of the solar equipment from the landowner’s property and requires the solar facility to maintain financial assurance to cover the removal costs. This act will take effect on November 1 after the governor approved the measure in early May.
Oklahomans are no strangers to wind, and Farm Bureau was pleased to see the passage of a handful of bills concerning wind energy, including HB 1205 by Rep. Cody Maynard and Sen. David Bullard, which repeals the tax credit for small wind turbine manufacturers.
Sen. Darcy Jech and Rep. Carl Newton authored SB 713, which requires wind facilities built after Jan. 1, 2026, to apply to the Federal Aviation Administration for approval of the installation of light-mitigating technology on wind turbines that only illuminates turbine-mounted beacon lights when an aircraft is approaching. Wind facilities installed before Jan. 1, 2026, must apply for approval if the facility is repowered, or if the facility enters or renews a power offtake agreement. The bill was vetoed by the governor but was subsequently overridden by both chambers of the legislature.
Water
The 2024 legislative session ended with many questions unanswered when it came to groundwater usage, and OKFB entered the 2025 session with eyes on several water bills. Groundwater usage is a complex and often heated topic of conversation in Oklahoma with many stakeholders at the table, each with different usage needs and opinions on groundwater metering.
To ensure Farm Bureau maintained an active seat at the table, the OKFB board of directors established a water working group, consisting of two Farm Bureau members from each district. The group met throughout the spring to learn more about the state’s water usage through firsthand accounts and expertise from OKFB’s grassroots members in order to make recommendations to the OKFB state board on what water-related actions the organization should pursue.
The unresolved groundwater metering issues of 2024 did not gain any more traction during the 2025 legislative session, but the legislature did pass several additional water measures, including HB 1588 by Rep. David Hardin and Sen. Tom Woods. The measure creates the Spring Creek Watershed Study Act, which seeks to improve and protect water quality and the aquatic habitat in the Spring Creek watershed through voluntary, incentive-based programs as part of a comprehensive water quality plan under the direction of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission.
SB 940 by Sen. Darcy Jech and Rep. Mike Dobrinski also requires the Oklahoma Conservation Commission to implement a plan for the control, removal and eradication of harmful and invasive plants on state-owned and operated land.
The legislature also passed a few bills concerning the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, including SB 1151 by Sen. Chuck Hall and Rep. Trey Caldwell, which appropriates $2 million to the OWRB for water infrastructure funding to a rural water sewer and waste management district, $2 million to construct water lines, and $2 million for the establishment of a grant program for water and wastewater infrastructure and dam improvement.
Caldwell and Hall also teamed up on HB 2766, which provides for $5.9 million in funding for the Terry Peach North Canadian Watershed Restoration Act.
HB 1438 by Rep. Kenton Patzkowsky and Sen. Spencer Kern raises the amount the OWRB Rural Economic Action Plan grant program and the REAP Water Projects Fund can give to a single entity from $150,000 to $350,000. All three measures are backed by OKFB members’ policy on supporting the improvement of water infrastructure in the state of Oklahoma.
Transportation
As modern farming and ranching practices have evolved, so have many producers’ means of transportation. Using all terrain and utility terrain vehicles and side-by-sides in place of traveling on horseback has become an increasingly common practice, but farmers and ranchers have historically faced legal barriers in traversing rural roads in ATVs and UTVs.
HB 1419 by Rep. Josh West and Sen. Tom Woods effectively changes the definition of “street legal utility vehicles” to allow maintained speeds of 50 miles per hour. The bill also allows ATVs and UTVs to be used on U.S. highways in counties with a population of less than 75,000 if properly registered, and it permits their usage on U.S. highways in counties with a population of more than 75,000 if the posted speed limit is less than 50 miles per hour.
Oklahoma’s road conditions can be questionable even in the most populous areas of the state, but many roads in rural areas quickly fall into disrepair. These roads are crucial for rural Oklahomans to travel to and from their homes, their places of work and to easily transport goods in and out of Oklahoma’s rural towns.
Rep. Trey Caldwell and Sen. John Haste authored HB 2758, which creates the Preserving and Advancing County Transportation Fund to construct and maintain Oklahoma’s county highway system by allocating some of the gross production tax on natural gas to the PACT Fund.
Education
OKFB members have placed a high priority on the education of future veterinarians who plan to practice in rural Oklahoma, and the 2025 legislative session brought an enormous victory to the Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine through HB 2773. The measure authored by Rep. Trey Caldwell and Sen. Chuck Hall appropriates $250 million from the Legacy Capital Financing Fund to build a new animal teaching hospital on the OSU campus.
Consumer Protection
OKFB was pleased to see the passage of HB 1126 by Rep. Jim Grego and Sen. Roland Pederson, which prohibits the false advertisement, misbranding or distribution of any manufactured-protein food product that is labeled with an identifying meat term.
Easements
OKFB saw two major bills concerning easements throughout the legislative session, including the creation of the Uniform Easement Relocation Act through HB 1060 by Rep. Jonathan Wilk and Sen. Lisa Standridge. This act will allow property owners to relocate inconveniently placed easements, excluding public utility and conservation easements.
Additionally, the legislature passed HB 1356 by Rep. David Hardin and Sen. Tom Woods, which establishes grounds for a misdemeanor if an individual entering through gates used for ingress or egress to a property designated as an easement does not maintain the original position of the gate. The individual responsible will be subject to fines and/or jail time in addition to bearing the responsibility for any damages incurred.
Health
The availability of quality rural healthcare is paramount to ensure the continued vibrance of rural Oklahoma, and lawmakers took steps to improve the health of all Oklahomans through a number of health-focused bills, including HB 2584 by House Speaker Kyle Hilbert and Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton, which expands the definition of “licensed practitioner” to include physician assistants. This allows certain physician assistants to practice and prescribe certain drugs independently of physician supervision.
Lawmakers also established the Food is Medicine Act through SB 806 by Sen. Adam Pugh and Rep. Anthony Moore. This act is designed to improve outcomes for Medicaid members through nutrition, case management, nutrition counseling, meals or pantry stocking, nutrition prescriptions and grocery provisions. It also requires the Oklahoma Health Care Authority to prioritize community-based organizations and local growers to support the purchase of locally grown food in nutrition prescriptions. Furthermore, it requires the State Department of Education to provide technical assistance to schools who apply for grants under the Oklahoma Farm to School Program Act.
Taxes
Two bills of note were passed in 2025 that deal with taxation, including HB 1183 by Rep. Jim Grego and Sen. Avery Frix, which requires motor vehicle excise tax be calculated on the actual sales price and eliminates the 20% adjustment above and below the average retail price when determining the taxable value.
Oklahomans can also expect some changes to their income tax structure with the passage of HB 2764 by Rep. Trey Caldwell and Sen. Chuck Hall, which reduces income tax rates by 0.25% to the top marginal personal income tax rate and restructures the income tax brackets. Beginning in 2026, the top rate will be lowered from 4.75% to 4.5% and the number of tax brackets will be reduced from six to four. Then a trigger is in place to phase out the personal income tax by quarter-percent increments.
Worker’s Compensation
Sen. Casey Murdock and Rep. Carl Newton authored SB 1076, which increases the gross annual payroll limit for agriculture, ranching and horticulture employers from $100,000 to $150,000 before workers fall under the Administrative Workers’ Compensation Act. However, the exemption from the act does not exempt agricultural employers from liability.
Next Steps
As elected officials return home to their constituents, work for Farm Bureau members has just begun with the start of the organization’s policy development season. Throughout the rest of the summer and early fall, Farm Bureau members will gather across the state for August Area Meetings and county annual meetings to develop new grassroots policy to guide the organization in 2026.
