Oklahoma Senate Bill SB985

Oklahoma 2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/3/25
• Refer: 2/4/25
• Report Pass: 2/10/25
• Refer: 2/10/25
• Report Pass: 2/20/25
• Engrossed: 2/18/26
• Refer: 3/30/26
• Refer: 3/31/26
• Report Pass: 4/23/26
• Enrolled: 4/30/26
• Passed: 5/6/26

Caption

Agriculture; creating the Oklahoma Local Food for Schools Program; specifying purpose for program. Effective date.

Summary

SB985 creates the Oklahoma Local Food for Schools program within the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry. The program’s purpose is to help school districts buy local foods, with an emphasis on building partnerships with local producers and meat processors. The department is directed to provide reimbursement to school districts for local food costs, and it is authorized to adopt rules to implement the program. The bill also establishes the Oklahoma Local Food for Schools Revolving Fund in the State Treasury. The fund is a continuing, non-lapsing fund made up of legislative appropriations for the program, and the department may spend those monies for the stated purpose of facilitating local food purchases by school districts. The act is set to become effective November 1, 2026.

Impact

SB985 adds new statutory provisions to Title 2 of the Oklahoma Statutes creating a state-administered school food procurement and reimbursement program and a dedicated revolving fund to finance it. It gives the Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry authority to administer the program, promulgate rules, and expend appropriated funds, while also establishing the treasury procedures for the new fund. The bill primarily affects school districts, local farmers, ranchers, meat processors, and the department by encouraging local sourcing for school meals and creating a state funding mechanism to support those purchases.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have broad bipartisan and institutional support. It advanced unanimously through Senate committee votes, passed the Senate on third reading with 47 yeas and no nays, and then cleared House committee and House third reading with similarly unanimous or near-unanimous support. The voting record suggests the measure was viewed favorably as an agriculture and school nutrition initiative, with no recorded opposition in the available history.

Contention

No major points of contention are reflected in the available transcripts or vote totals. The only likely policy questions implied by the bill are how the reimbursement program will be funded, how rules will be structured, and how local food purchasing requirements or preferences will be administered for school districts. However, the unanimous votes indicate these issues did not produce visible disagreement in the recorded legislative process.