OKLAHOMA CITY — The ongoing political drama between Gov. Kevin Stitt and the Republican leadership of the Oklahoma Legislature entered its second act last week, after the House of Representatives overrode the governor’s veto on tribal compact legislation.
A short time later, Stitt took his complaints to the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
Stitt asked the state’s high court to overturn the legislative action, saying the Legislature bypassed his authority.
“I was elected to make sure I protect Oklahoma,” Stitt told reporters. “That’s exactly what I’m doing. If the Legislature is siding with the tribal compact, they’re going to have to answer to the voters on that one.”
Stitt’s lawsuit said the concurrent special session where the compact legislation was passed was unlawful. “The bills – or the actions taken thereby – violate the Oklahoma Constitution and codified statute,” the lawsuit reads. “Absent this court’s intervention, the Legislature will have license to disregard explicit mandates and limitations in our Constitution and will be emboldened to transcend its legal limits, now and well beyond the parties’ tenure.”
Stitt said he wanted changes in the legislation surrounding the compacts before he would sign an extension.
During its special session, state lawmakers endorsed a plan to renew three car tag compacts, despite the governor’s objects. Lawmakers have long insisted they had the authority to extend the compacts and include or exclude the governor’s office from negotiations with tribal leaders.
The Legislature, the governor’s lawsuit said, should stay in its own lane.
“By convening itself into an unlawful concurrent special session to pass bills purporting to amend and extend and/or restore compacts previously negotiated by the executive branch, specifically the governor, the Legislature has veered into the executive’s lane, unlawfully usurping the governor’s authority in violation of the separation of powers doctrine enshrined in our Constitution.”
The veto overrides, the governor’s lawsuit said, have created an urgent situation requiring the court’s immediate attention “and a speedy determination of the case.”
Federal law limits just how much power state legislators have over tribal governments. In Oklahoma, the federal government has recognized 39 tribal nations – giving them the autonomy to that of a foreign country inside state borders.
No date has been set for a court hearing on the lawsuit.