As they raced toward the 5:00 p.m. Friday deadline for completing the 2022 legislative regular session, members of the state House and Senate decisively overrode six of Governor Kevin Stitt's bill vetoes and hinted at more differences of opinion in the upcoming special session.
TRANSCRIPT
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Dick Pryor: This is Capitol Insider - taking you inside politics, policy and government in Oklahoma. I'm Dick Pryor with Quorum Call publisher Shawn Ashley. Shawn, a frantic final week in the regular legislative session had lawmakers wrapping up their work in the last two days before adjourning Sine Die on Friday. First, the general appropriations bill, Senate Bill 1040, became law without Governor Kevin Stitt's signature, which was unusual.
Shawn Ashley: Yes, that's very unusual. I can't think of a time in my nearly 20 years at the Capitol when the general appropriations bill, the main spending bill for state government, has taken effect without the governor signing it. On Thursday, the governor held a press conference to address that issue. Governor Stitt said, as he had mentioned in the past, that he was not actively involved in the budget negotiations. And he said that the budget that was in Senate Bill 1040 did not represent budget agreement. It was what the legislature wanted to do and was really just handed to him on May 16th. Shortly after members of the public had seen it. That was the first time he and his staff had an opportunity to go through it line by line. So rather than signing the bill, the governor decided to allow it to take effect without the benefit of a signature.
Dick Pryor: The big storyline on the final day of the session was veto overrides. The House and Senate voted to override six of Governor Stitt's vetoes. Now, all along, that was their plan for the last day.
Shawn Ashley: Yes, it was. Lawmakers passed their last bills. May 20th. Now, because they were still in session and had not adjourned Sine Die that meant Governor Stitt had until Thursday to sign or veto those last bills lawmakers had passed and that included the budget. House Speaker Charles McCall said in a press conference Friday that that was a deliberate choice. It meant lawmakers would have at least one legislative day - Friday - to attempt to override any veto Stitt had issued. And that's exactly what they did. Overriding his vetoes on six bills.
Dick Pryor: During the final two days, the rhetoric directed toward Governor Stitt by his fellow Republicans in the legislature was quite sharp.
Shawn Ashley: Yes, it was. During the discussion of the override of House Bill 3501, the bill that requires the Department of Public Safety to recognize traffic violations from tribal law enforcement officers and courts, Representative Ryan Martinez, a Republican from Edmond, called Stitt's attitude toward the tribes “racist and hateful.” And other Republicans also took shots at Stitt during the consideration of other veto overrides. At the end of the day, House Speaker Charles McCall said he was disappointed by Stitt, particularly by comments the governor made concerning the budget. During a Thursday press conference, McCall called those comments “disingenuous.”
Dick Pryor: In that Thursday press conference, the governor announced he would veto two bills that would provide for issuance of tax rebate checks later this year and another bill that repealed the motor vehicle sales tax. He also called a special session to convene June 13th to consider eliminating the sales tax on groceries and reducing the individual income tax rate. We haven't heard from the Senate, but how has the House of Representatives responded to the call?
Shawn Ashley: That was really the most interesting part of Friday. The House not only said they would answer Stitt's call for a special session to talk about the grocery sales tax and income tax, but House Speaker Charles McCall said they planned to amend the legislature's call for a special session to appropriate the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA funds, to include a much broader discussion of tax and inflation relief. McCall said Stitt’s special session call was too narrow and that they should talk about other types of tax and inflation relief. McCall noted the House had passed a series of bills earlier in the session that included the grocery sales tax and income tax cut, but also larger rebates to taxpayers as well as reductions in the franchise and corporate income taxes and other tax issues. He said there are other proposals that could be discussed, too. In other words, what the House did was to call on Governor Stitt to join their much broader special session.
Dick Pryor: A lot happened in the final week and now with two special sessions in effect action inside the Capitol is getting really interesting.
Shawn Ashley: There's never a dull moment in the Capitol, not even during the summer.
Dick Pryor: Thanks, Shawn.
Shawn Ashley: You're very welcome.
Dick Pryor: If you have questions, e-mail them to news@kgou.org or contact us on Twitter @kgounews or @QuorumCallShawn. You can find audio and transcripts at kgou.org. And for more information, go to quorumcall.online. Until next time with Shawn Ashley, I'm Dick Pryor.
