Oklahoma lawmakers overturn vetoes on dozens of measures, including mammograms, records transparency

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma House rose for a standing ovation Thursday after overturning the governor’s veto of a bill expanding access to mammograms for early breast cancer detection.

Rep. Melissa Provenzano, D-Tulsa, the bill’s author, said the standing ovation was “powerful” and a reminder that people are humans before they are politicians. She was battling breast cancer for the length of the legislative session.

Despite a nearly five hour delay in the Senate, the measure was one of nearly four dozen vetoes the House and Senate overturned on the penultimate day of session as they worked past midnight and into Friday morning before adjourning. Lawmakers moved to overturn the majority of Gov. Kevin Stitt’s vetoes.

Provenzano was met with another round of applause Thursday night when she returned to the House chamber after the Senate voted to finalize the veto override.

“I’m just reminded again, that we’re humans first, politicians second,” Provenzano said. “And I think every member and every staff member and the people in this building, if what we experienced here is going on in the state of Oklahoma, then it’s time for something like this. Because everybody had a story of a sister or a mother, an aunt, a wife. And so it was just powerful.”

Stitt said he vetoed the bill because while he is “sympathetic” to those battling breast cancer, the legislation would have imposed “new and costly” insurance mandates on private health plans and raised insurance premiums.

To override a veto from the governor, two-thirds of representatives and senators must vote in favor of the measure or three-quarters if the measure contains an emergency provision. The dozens of overrides ranged from measures that aimed to increase public access to open records to missing and murdered indigenous people.

Some of the vetoes lawmakers overrode included:

• House Bill 2785 that gives the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services the ability to review the budget and finances of the state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, which has had ongoing financial troubles. The governor said it was “nonsensical and ineffective” to task one executive agency with micromanaging another;
• House Bill 2163 that gives the Attorney General’s Office the power to enforce violations of the Open Records Act. Stitt said the bill would give Attorney General Gentner Drummond “sweeping and unchecked authority” to access records from all state agencies, an “unprecedented” power in Oklahoma. Drummond had previously urged lawmakers to override the veto;
• House Bill 2048 that prohibits insurers and pharmacy benefit managers from discriminatory reimbursement practices. Stitt wrote in his veto message that this was a federal issue and the Legislature should not insert itself.
• House Bill 1137 that removes a requirement that the Office of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons be federally funded, opening it up to state funding. Stitt said he vetoed the measure because he doesn’t endorse legislation that “singles out victims based solely on their race.”

Stitt posted a video Thursday afternoon telling voters to closely watch how lawmakers vote on veto overrides.

“This is stuff I know is bad for Oklahoma, bad for taxpayers,” he said in the video. “And you’ve got the Senate and House and special interest groups that are trying to override my vetoes.”

Stitt said Thursday that he had vetoed 68 bills this session that would overregulate businesses and create higher taxes for Oklahomans. He said voters should pay attention to which lawmakers supported overrides of his vetoes.

Rep. Scott Fetgatter, R-Okmulgee, referenced Stitt’s comments while making a motion to override a veto on one of his bills, House Bill 2459, which pertains to fire safety in mobile food vehicles.

“Evidently, since the governor has called for all of us to be primaried that override his vetoes today, and his staff cant seem to read a bill correctly and they vetoed my bill, I make a motion to override the veto,” he said.

National guard bill dispute draws out legislative day

Legislative proceedings stalled for nearly five hours after Senate leaders struggled to get the required number of votes necessary to override House Bill 2769. The measure contained a series of amendments to the leadership requirements and rules of the Oklahoma National Guard. The Senate passed the override just after 9 p.m.

Stitt’s override message said he vetoed the bill because it made major changes to the National Guard and state finances without a thorough fiscal analysis.

“While I applaud all our men and women who serve our country and our state in the National Guard, I cannot allow this bill to become law,” he wrote. “… The policies in this bill should be considered, reviewed, and debated as separate and distinct bills.”

The bill makes several amendments to the qualifications necessary to serve as adjutant general of the Oklahoma National Guard, an officer overseeing administrative and personnel matters. The position could now be filled by someone with a rank of colonel or higher. It also grants the officer additional powers.

The officer is to be compensated at the same rate of pay afforded to a major general. Several changes were also made to the Oklahoma Uniform Code of Military Justice

Oklahoma Voice (oklahomavoice.com) is an affiliate of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, supported by grants and donations. Oklahoma Voice provides nonpartisan reporting, and retains full editorial independence.