Gov. Mary Fallin says she's vetoing more than a dozen House bills in part to send a message to House leaders that they need to take action on some of her top priorities.
Fallin announced 15 vetoes Tuesday and said the House is not taking care of substantive issues that most Oklahomans care about and challenged lawmakers to "step it up."
“This is not a one day deal because we have a limited amount of time to get our work done,” Fallin said when asked whether Tuesday’s vetoes were an isolated incident.
'People expect their elected officials to find solutions to problems that are facing them' - Gov. Mary Fallin
One priority she singled out is a Senate-passed bill authorizing up to a $160 million bond issue to fund repairs to the state Capitol that stalled in the House.
Fallin says she and legislative leaders are making little progress on substantive issues like the budget because the Legislature, especially the House, is spending too much time on unimportant matters.
eCapitol’s Shawn Ashley reports Fallin has never had a veto overridden, and the Legislature has never even tried:
When asked if she was concerned that the House might attempt to do so, taking further time away from the issues about which she is concerned, Fallin said, “What’s the option? They’re not talking about (the important issues) anyway.”
House members did not immediately respond to her comments.
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