“A half and a path.”
Stitt’s new slogan summarizes his plan for cutting the state’s income tax.
“A half-point cut to the individual and business income tax and a path to zero income tax,” Stitt explained during his State of the State speech.
Republican lawmakers want this. They’ve filed hundreds of measures this session to the end of cutting the state income tax, hoping to capitalize on more government efficiency inspired by the Trump administration.
Along that line of Trumpism, Stitt says he’s launched DOGE-OK, an effort to increase the efficiency of the state’s agencies and reduce the number of people they employ.
“Today, I’m launching DOGE-OK to keep the focus on flat budgets and limited government,” Stitt said. Those flat budgets will require agencies to do more with less, especially as prices continue to increase, partly due to Trump’s tariff policies against Canada, China and other economic partners worldwide.
“For years, I’ve instructed my cabinet secretaries and agency directors to shrink employee count and cut unnecessary contracts,” Stitt said. “I am committed to having fewer state employees at the end of my term than when I took office in 2019.”
Stitt said that the DOGE-OK idea is something he’s committed to since the last time he visited President Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence.
At the federal level, DOGE is a pseudo-government agency run by tech billionaire Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, advising Trump to reduce wasteful spending.
In Oklahoma, the division fits within the pre-existing Office of Enterprise and Management Services. It creates the unpaid position of Chief DOGE Advisor, who has broad authority to access and scrutinize agency budgets and expenditures and reports directly to Stitt.
The DOGE advisor is expected to submit a report to the governor with recommendations for fiscal reforms for the state and all its agencies by March 31.
Both Senate Pro Temp Lonnie Paxton and House Speaker Kyle Hilbert said they’re in support of increasing efficiency and reducing frivolous spending — but have stopped short of pushing any particular tax cut proposal until they see the budget report from the Board of Equalization.
In November, Paxton said he was excited for something like Trump’s DOGE in Oklahoma. Stitt’s new OMES division makes it a reality. A month later, Hilbert launched a DOGE-inspired portal, soliciting Oklahomans’ experiences and stories pertaining to slow and inefficient government.
"As lawmakers, we want the assistance of Oklahomans who have first-hand experience with duplicative and wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars," Hilbert said, explaining responses will be considered in the budgeting process.
Education
Stitt touted “education freedom,” citing a new report from the conservative lobbying nonprofit ALEC that ranks Oklahoma fourth in the nation for “education freedom.” ALEC’s ranking determination is based on state policies, including tax credit scholarships, voucher programs and accessibility to charter schools.
“I believe that when you inject competition, everyone gets better,” Stitt said. “And we’re seeing that here in our school systems.”
He also praised efforts to establish what would be the nation’s first publicly funded religious school, the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School. The school’s opening has been put on hold while a lawsuit filed by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond waits to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Looking ahead, Stitt is calling for the elimination of virtual school days. Sen. Kristen Thompson’s, R-Edmond, Senate Bill 758 would require schools to only use virtual days for inclement weather, unavailability of staff due to illness or building maintenance problems.
The State Department of Education would determine if a virtual day complied with the law, and if not, the schools would have to add an extra day to the end of the year. Last year, a similar bill passed through the Senate but stalled in the House.
Stitt also called for a policy to make schools cell phone-free. Sen. Ally Seifried’s, R-Claremore, Senate Bill 139 would require school districts to come up with their policies to ban student phones on campus, “bell-to-bell.”
Tribal nations largely left out
The address noticeably made little mention of Oklahoma’s tribal nations, unlike in years past.
Tribal leaders in attendance had mixed responses.
Cherokee Nation Deputy Chief Bryan Warner said he wished Stitt’s speech highlighted the tribe's collaborative efforts with the state.
“He talked about four principles and one of those was to protect the Oklahoma way. Well, without collaboration and without talking about tribal values and different things like that I think you're missing a key ingredient,” he said. “But yet I'm always hopeful. I think he hit a lot of good notes.”
Second Chief of the Muscogee Nation Del Beaver said he’ll believe these values Stitt mentioned when he sees them.
“It’s a good speech, but it's like everything else—proof is in the pudding,” he said.
Democrats react
Democrats in the Senate and House held separate press conferences shortly after Stitt's address. Sen. minority leader Julia Kirt said she is more disappointed about what the governor failed to mention than what he talked about.
“We watched, we listened, and what we didn’t hear is really what we needed to see,” Kirt said. “Which is a great education for every kid, an economy that really drives high paying jobs for the people of Oklahoma; We need to see families equipped to take care of their health, and we need to see transparency and accountability from the government up here.”
House leader Cyndi Munson criticized Stitt for focusing on attracting businesses rather than supporting Oklahomans.
Munson pointed to specific policy measures like providing childcare for childcare providers, expanding tax credits for low-income Oklahomans and free school lunches for students.
“You can’t make Oklahoma a business-friendly state when you don’t make it a people-friendly state,” Munson said. “People need access to living wages, they need access to healthcare, they need access to childcare that is affordable and of high quality. That’s how you build an economy.”
Rep. Andy Fugate, D-OKC, questioned why Stitt is creating DOGE-OK now when his party has held a supermajority his entire term as governor.
“It’s been their charge from their voters to be looking for all of that stuff all of this time,” Fugate said. “In his seventh year, the governor’s going to do something about that? Shame on him. If he’s aware of those kinds of inefficiencies, he should have been working on it day one.”
Fugate said DOGE-OK is a poor substitute for the state’s existing Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency. DOGE-OK would allow officials to cut funding in the dark rather than through an established, open process.
Kirt said the governor’s talking points are repeats of past years.“We really didn’t see anything new,” she said. “We saw copy-and-paste for tax cuts for big business and wealthy Oklahomans.”
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
