Governor Stitt vetoes four bills, including FY 2021 Budget - Legislature overrides vetoes

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Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt vetoed four bills on Wednesday, but was met with a bipartisan override on each measure. Stitt vetoed House Bill 2741, HB 2742, HB 2743, and Senate Bill 1922. The House voted 94-4, 95-5, 97-3, and 79-20, respectively, to override the vetoes. The Senate voted 34-12, 34-11, 44-2, and 35-11, respectively.

Governor Kevin Stitt issued the following statement after vetoing the Oklahoma Legislature’s proposed Fiscal Year 2021 Budget (Senate Bill 1922):

“This budget was created behind closed doors, without meaningful input or consultation from the Executive Branch.

This proposed budget does not reflect the values of Oklahoma or the clear directive voters gave elected officials at the ballot box of living within our means and making hard decisions when times get tough. Instead, Senate Bill 1922 reflects misguided policies that conservative republicans have spent the past decade reversing. It is propped up with one-time funds that will not be available for Fiscal Year 2022.

As Governor, I was elected to manage the Executive Branch, which includes managing expenses and right-sizing agencies. This budget is going to back the state into a financial corner, which leaves us with very few options in FY 2022 – we will either have to raise taxes or implement draconian cuts. As Governor I am here to protect the taxpayer – not harm them.”

According to a statement released from the Governor’s office, “House Bill 2741 and House Bill 2742 would reduce the percentage of revenue appropriated in FY 2021 to the Teachers’ Retirement System, Oklahoma Firefighters’ Pension and Retirement Fund, Police Pension and Retirement System, and Law Enforcement Retirement Fund and increase revenue appropriated to the 1017 Education Fund.”

“We have made great progress shoring up our retirement systems in the last few years, and now is not the time to undo that progress,” said Gov. Stitt. “These bills would take tens of millions of dollars away from teachers, law enforcement officers, and firefighters to fund district costs, and it would bring our funding ratio back down to where it was in 2014. While I understand the importance of a balanced budget, it is fiscally irresponsible to do so at the expense of the solvency of these pension systems. I will not play a part in harming Oklahoma’s dedicated teachers and emergency responders.” 

According to Stitt, “House Bill 2743 would take $180,000,000 away from the Rebuilding Oklahoma Access and Driver Safety (ROADS) Fund. This has the potential to cause significant delays in many of the critical infrastructure projects supported by the ROADS Fund, which would jeopardize the progress made by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation’s Eight Year Plan.”

“As Governor, my goal is for Oklahoma to become a Top Ten State. This includes becoming Top Ten in infrastructure, specifically in roads and bridges,” continued Gov. Stitt. “House Bill 2743 would force ODOT to unnecessarily take on additional debt through the use of bonds. Because of the State’s dedication to the ODOT plan, we are now up to 13th in bridges and improving our roads. I understand and agree with the use of bonds in limited circumstances. However, I cannot support the use of bonds to plug budget holes.”

Senate Democratic Leader Kay Floyd, D-Oklahoma City, released the following statement on behalf of the Senate Democratic Caucus after the Legislature voted to override the vetoes.

“Senate Democrats voted against the override of Governor Stitt’s veto of SB 1922, the General Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2021. We disagree with the Governor’s stated justification for the veto, which is that he believes the budget should include more cuts. We remain concerned the budget as passed by the Legislature already includes too many cuts to core services, including education, health care, and public safety. We are unable to support implementing a budget that does not invest in these priorities, which are a critical foundation of Oklahoma’s economy.

“Most Senate Democrats also opposed votes to override the governor’s vetoes of HB 2741 and HB 2742, bills to divert funds from the Teacher’s Retirement System and Fire Fighter and Police pensions. While we agree funding is needed to prevent cuts to education, we do not believe taking funds intended for public pensions is the way to do it. Retired public employees, who dedicated their careers to serving Oklahomans, have gone over a decade without a cost of living increase (COLA). Instead of reverting back to old practices of diverting funds from the retirement systems, the Legislature should pass a COLA for these retirees this session.

“Senate Democrats did support an override of the Governor’s veto of HB 2743, which transfers $180 million from the ROADS Fund to public education. We do not believe this is a sustainable funding source for our public schools; however, we were able to support this override because the funding is backfilled by bonds the Oklahoma Department of Transportation is authorized to issue.”

Representative Jadine Nollan, who represents the district including Sand Springs, made the following statement on social media.

“These vetoes, if sustained, would have led to a $370 million cut to common education in Oklahoma for FY-21. This would have been a 12.05% cut. Late last night, the House of Representatives and Senate overrode all of those vetoes to protect education and our core services. This was not a vote against the Governor, but a vote to bring stability for our state’s citizens. Thank you to the bipartisan group of legislators who voted 94-4, 95-5, 97-3 and 79-20 in favor of overriding these vetos.”