TRANSCRIPT
Announcer: Capitol Insider sponsored by the Oklahoma State Medical Association. Physician members who devote more than 11 years of higher education and 10,000 clinical hours in study to provide care for all Oklahomans. More at okmed.org.
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. The Oklahoma Supreme Court handed Governor Stitt a victory on Wednesday with a decision regarding the governor's authority to hire legal counsel. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia sought this decision from the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Shawn, what's the procedural background on this case?
Shawn Ashley: It is kind of an unusual situation. In April, a federal district court asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court to decide whether the governor or the attorney general has the ultimate authority to represent the state's interest in a dispute that four Native American tribes brought against the U.S. Department of Interior involving gaming compacts negotiated and signed by Governor Stitt and later found invalid by the state's highest court. Stitt had first intervened in the suit on behalf of the state of Oklahoma. But in September 2023, Attorney General Gentner Drummond attempted to take over the state's representation in the case. The federal district court wasn't sure who to recognize on behalf of the state, so it asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court to decide.
Dick Pryor: What did the Oklahoma Supreme Court decide?
Shawn Ashley: In short, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled the governor has the authority to hire outside counsel to represent the state and his office. The attorney general's office, the Supreme Court ruled, can make appearances in a case, but he cannot fire and replace the counsel appointed by the governor. Now, that may come as a surprise to the federal district court, which said in April that it did not think the governor's authority went as far as he argued it did.
Dick Pryor: In 2023, authority for the Pharmacy Benefit Management Administrative Court moved to the state attorney general's office. Now, the first case in that court has been filed. What is it about?
Shawn Ashley: The case is against CVS Caremark. According to Attorney General Drummond's office, the company reimbursed 200 individual prescription claims below the acquisition cost to 15 Oklahoma pharmacies, which is prohibited by state law. Oklahoma is one of several states that have been attempting to protect smaller, usually independent pharmacies from practices like that, especially those involving pharmacy benefit managers.
Dick Pryor: Hearings are underway with agencies as they present their budget request to legislative committees. The questions that agency heads are asking can be telling. Are you getting a sense of where the budget for this next fiscal year may be heading?
Shawn Ashley: Well, I have yet to hear a budget subcommittee chairman ask an agency director, “Can we give you more money?”. What I am hearing is caution. Several budget committee chairs pointed out that the Board of Equalization’s January estimate forecast is slightly lower than the amount of money lawmakers had to appropriate for the current fiscal year. In some subcommittees, chairs are even asking agencies how they would respond to a budget cut. So, at this point, it seems like they are thinking it is going to be a tight budget year.
Dick Pryor: Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice Dustin Rowe outlined a new proposal for how judges and justices could be paid. What is he proposing?
Shawn Ashley: Currently, the Council on Judicial Compensation makes a recommendation to the legislature on judicial pay, and it's up to lawmakers to accept, reject or amend that request. Rowe suggested a simpler approach: set what he called a reasonable salary, perhaps a percentage of a federal district judge's pay, and allow it to automatically increase every two years based on inflation. That, he said, would take politics out of the process. He suggested doing that for about ten years and then seeing if it needs to be adjusted.
Dick Pryor: And, of course, the State of the State address and the governor's release of the executive budget is coming up on February 3rd. We'll be covering that. Thank you, Shawn.
Shawn Ashley: You're very welcome.
Dick Pryor: For more information, go to quorumcall.online and find audio and transcripts of kgou.org. Until next time, with Shawn Ashley, I'm Dick Pryor.
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