Action Alert: Public Comments on OMMA's Latest Proposed Rules Begin January 16th, 2024

A meeting for in-person public comments will also be held at the OK State Capitol on February 16th

The public comment period for the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority’s latest proposed permanent rules begins Jan. 16, 2024, and closes at 5 p.m. Feb. 16, 2024.

You can find all you need about making public comments on their site under the rules section and public comments page if you are ready to leave your comments and get it done, and we have some additional info here about the notices, if you are new to this process.

Public Commenting and the Oklahoma Open Meetings Act

During 2023, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office held public workshops and released materials on the Open Meetings Act including how public comments are to be handled. Re-iterated in these workshops were some truths we already know about the OMA, and some finer details.

The reason taking advantage of this is important? Oklahoma’s Legislature rarely hears from the public unless a constituent calls or visits them on their own or does outside advocacy work actions, as OklahomaWatch reported in 2021—

Oklahoma Watch contacted the offices of all 44 standing committee chairs in the House or Senate, all of whom are Republicans due to GOP majorities in both houses, to see if they would allow public comments during the meetings they lead or would support a rule change to require or encourage public comments before bills make it to a floor vote. 

Despite multiple attempts over more than two weeks to seek their answers, not a single lawmaker responded. 

The leaders of the House and Senate, Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, and Senate Pro Tempore Greg Treat, similarly declined to comment. 

Andy Moore, executive director of the nonprofit and nonpartisan Let’s Fix This advocacy group, supports increasing the public’s role in the bill-making process since he argues it would make better legislation and create a more robust debate on the issues. 

But just as state lawmakers have exempted themselves from the state’s open meeting and public records act, he said it doesn’t appear there’s a will for more public inclusion. 

Public comments have then become one of the few ways Oklahomans can get some on-the-record feedback to public bodies as these laws are passed and those public bodies promulgate rules from those laws— in OMMA’s case, anywhere in bill text where there is a section that reads “OMMA shall promulgate rules on…” that’s where they come in and make more specific rules. More information on this can be found on OMMA’s rulemaking page as well.

Public Hearing February 16th

A public hearing for in-person comments will be February 16, 2024 for in-person comments.

A personal story— the first one of these I watched only had two participants sign up to speak for public comments in person. Last year, it was many more, and you can watch that hearing here. You will find patients and businesses alike commenting, even lawyers commenting for multiple individuals, if you are nervous about leaving a comment, this may inspire you, or give you ideas of what to expect. A critical ear is important as well when viewing something like this in hindsight, as stakeholders are also commenting in their own respective interests, with personal and financial security in mind not just patient safety. One example is a mention of “huge corporations” when one of the businesses who showed up to the “two participant” hearing I mentioned? That was a chain dispensary from Colorado.

But back to the meeting info…

The details for the February meeting are on the notices of rulemaking intent and here are the details also -

February 16, 2024 at the Oklahoma State Capitol, 2300 N. Lincoln Boulevard, Oklahoma City, OK 73105 in Room 535 at 9:00 a.m. Anyone who wishes to speak must sign in at the door by 9:05a.m.

The alternate date and time in the event of an office closure due to inclement weather is February 16, 2024 at the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, 2501 N. Lincoln Boulevard., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105 in Room 400 at 1:00 p.m. Anyone who wishes to speak must sign in at the door by 1:05p.m.

OMMA Specifically Requests Comments from Business Entities

In the posted notices of rulemaking intent, like this one and this one, can be found a section for requests from businesses, about their increased costs —

Business entities affected by these proposed rules are requested to provide the agency with information, within the comment period, in dollar amounts if possible, on the increase in the level of direct costs such as fees, and indirect costs such as reporting, recordkeeping, equipment, construction, labor, professional services, revenue loss, or other costs expected to be incurred by a particular entity due to compliance with the proposed rule. Business entities may submit this information in writing through February 16, 2024 at 5:00 p.m., the close of business, on the public comment form listed at www.omma.ok.gov/rules.

In the last few months, several laws have both been passed with emergency effect and taken effect that may have caused increased burdens to Oklahoma cannabis businesses, as seen by the reduction in active licenses and a substantial amount of community-wide comments and conversation from these businesses.

This looks to be a call for receipts on this. Your accountant, bookkeeper, or even software or an app that tracks your expenses may be able to help inform your comments here, and also be useful in future advocacy efforts.

Speaking of advocacy efforts—

Timing, and OMMA and the Oklahoma Legislature

In 2022, the commenting session ran through November-December, and this time it’s concurrent to the 2024 legislative session when it was expected to be at the end of 2023.

If you are new to cannabis advocacy, I cannot stress enough how much the Oklahoma Legislature and OMMA are not the same entity nor do they have the same powers, and that OMMA does not make the cannabis laws. They promulgate rules on laws passed in the Oklahoma Legislature and enforce laws passed by the Oklahoma Legislature; they also can request policy but it may not necessarily get a bill, that is up to legislators. OMMA does attend or get invited to interim studies to comment on the topic of study that may inform future legislation, and they speak at booked events and can make official statements and work with other state agencies, but as a standalone agency have their own internal policies as well. Some of these, per the limitations in Open Meetings Act, are not included as publicly disclosable.

The reason the OKLEG vs OMMA distinction is important, is when doing direct actions, OMMA cannot change laws on a whim because a lawyer told you and your friends to buy and wear their tshirts to their building and protest. Direct action is very useful, but it requires organization, not just pointing a group “over there, go yell that way…” (*there is a place for this, but that’s in another blog post)

Certain kinds of direct action must happen with legislators and other political leadership, particularly around voting and passing bills before they become law. More info on that in a past post here, and we will have more on the 2024 Legislative session in the coming days and weeks as the filing deadline is imminent and the Regular Session begins February 5th.