OKLAHOMA CITY – A measure that allocates $5.5 million to Oklahoma State University for its veterinary medicine school and its animal disease laboratory, plus $2 million for the OSU Extension Service and $1 million for agriculture experiment stations, has been enacted.
Senate Bill 1058, which Governor Stitt signed on May 26, also includes funding $11.2 million for rural firefighting operations.
The legislation earmarks $25,557,875 from the General Appropriations bill to the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry. The allocations include:
Ÿ $4 million for the Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
Ÿ $1.5 million for the OSU Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory.
Ÿ $1 million for OSU Agriculture Experiment Stations. According to OSU, research labs are located in Agricultural Hall, Noble Research Center, the Food & Agricultural Products and Animal Science buildings on the Stillwater campus. Additionally, Ag Research operates field, greenhouse and lab facilities at 18 research stations and centers located throughout the state.
Ag Research employs more than 100 doctorate-level faculty members who specialize in areas ranging from cattle and wheat production to cell wall biology and biofuels.
Ÿ $2 million for the OSU Agricultural Extension Service, which has extension programs and staff “dedicated to all 77 counties,” said Morgan Vance, ODAFF’s chief of communications.
Ÿ $330,000 for additional meat inspectors.
Ÿ $513,325 for the “Made in Oklahoma” program.
“These funds are allocated to the Made in Oklahoma Coalition, which is a public-private partnership that promotes Oklahoma-based food and beverage companies,” Vance said. The coalition “focuses on brand awareness and consumer loyalty for these M-I-O food and agricultural products through collective marketing for the purpose of increasing sales, maintaining business retention, and expanding Oklahoma’s food processing sector.”
Ÿ $5 million in assistance for municipalities of no more than 3,500 population that were clobbered with extremely high utility bills arising from the February 2021 extreme winter storm.
$11.2M in SB 1058
earmarked for
rural firefighting
Ÿ The bill designates $8,414,550 for rural fire operational grants. In the current fiscal year, 840 rural fire departments were certified to receive an operational grant check, Vance said; the new allocation constitutes an average of $10,017 for each of those departments.
Comanche County has 20 volunteer fire departments and the professional Lawton Fire Department. Websites indicate Kiowa County has nine volunteer fire departments; Tillman County, four; Cotton County, three; Caddo County, 20 volunteer departments; Jackson County, 10 volunteer fire departments and the professional Altus Fire and Rescue Department; Stephens County, nine volunteer departments and the professional Duncan Fire Department; Greer County, three volunteer departments, and Harmon County, one.
State statute decrees that a rural fire department may spend its operational grant “only for the maintenance of its fire department; the purchase, construction, maintenance, repair and operation of its fire stations, fire apparatus and equipment; the purchase, rental, installation or maintenance of fire hydrants; the payment of insurance premiums upon fire stations, fire apparatus and equipment; and insurance premiums for injuries or death of firefighters…”
Also, up to 10% of the funds or $1,000, whichever is the greater amount, can be used to send one or more firefighters to a certified fire training school.
None of the funds can be spent “for any purpose relating to the water supply systems of any participant, nor for the improvement or construction of such systems, nor for any other appurtenances relating to the distribution or use of such water supply system,” the law specifies.
Ÿ The legislation includes $2 million for the Rural Fire 80/20 Match Program. In the current FY 2022, two dozen rural fire departments were awarded 80/20 grants, Vance said.
Those funds are awarded for “improvement of fire protection in rural areas” of the state, “to the end that the hazard of loss by fire and fire insurance rates may be reduced and the public safety thereby promoted.”
A recipient’s 20% matching requirement can be fulfilled “either in cash or in-kind,” state law provides.
Ÿ SB 1058 also reserves $800,000 for Oklahoma’s 10 rural fire coordinators. By statute, their duties include:
-- visit all fire departments assigned to them by the Ag Department a minimum of one time each year.
-- provide technical assistance to rural fire departments in the development of their equipment, communications systems, and training programs. The coordinator assists rural fire departments in planning a strategy for developing funding sources, firefighter training, communications equipment, personal protection equipment needs; and wildland firefighting equipment needs.
-- administer state and federal grant programs to assist rural fire departments within established guidelines and procedures to obtain financial assistance to improve their fire protection capabilities.
-- serve as a primary source of information to rural fire departments on programs and services offered by other fire organizations within the state of Oklahoma, agencies of the federal government, and private industry. That includes promoting compliance and participation in the programs of the Office of the State Fire Marshal, Oklahoma State University Fire Service Training, the state Career Tech Department, the Oklahoma Firefighter’s Association, and the Council on Firefighter Training.
-- work with rural communities within the district and representatives of the insurance industry to lower homeowner insurance rates.