The "Stitt Show" in the Legislature is over, but the governor mostly got his way

Yahoo

2 days ago

The curtain fell on the 'Stitt Show' last week.
Because if there's one thing that defined Oklahoma's 2025 annual legislative session, Gov. Kevin Stitt finally played a starring role after six years in a row of lackluster performance. The Republican adroitly exercised his power to relegate even lawmakers from his own party to supporting roles in their own production.
For better or worse, pretty much every major policy passed during the 60th legislative session had his fingerprints all over it.
Income tax cuts. Creation of business courts. Four new appointees to the State Board of Education. Stopping the education department's effort to collect information on students' citizenship. Extending the school year by a day. Banning cellphones in schools. Largely ending virtual school days. Flat agency budgets.
Check. Check. And more checks.
These victories represent an amazing turn of events for the governor, who year after year, has seen some of his major policy priorities — like calls to cut taxes — stymied by fellow Republicans. In prior years he employed one of the few tools a governor has in the Legislature: forcing lawmakers to return to the Capitol to reconsider his top agenda items during special sessions. But his efforts were futile, and those useless special sessions wasted taxpayer dollars with little to show.
In fact, Stitt was so pleased with this session's outcomes, he said last week he doesn't see a reason to call a special session.
Lawmakers, meanwhile, sat mutely for days as Stitt vetoed their bills or insulted their priorities.
As of Thursday morning – the second-to-last day of session – the governor had vetoed nearly 70 bills, the majority of which were authored by Republicans. He also let an astounding number of bills — over 300 at last count — passively take effect without his signature. When asked about his decision to not sign bills, Stitt said those are the measures that he doesn't 'think are going to move the needle.' He also said the people think it's 'super weird' that there are over 500 new laws proposed each year.
This is the same governor who vetoed measures that increase women's access to breast cancer screening or that aim to improve Oklahomans' access to the public records.
But later Thursday, lawmakers suddenly emerged from their self-imposed supporting role and spent the final full day of session criticizing the governor's decisions.
Against Stitt's wishes, they took the rare step of firing his commissioner of mental health after the agency's finances fell into disarray. Allie Friesen's removal marked one of their final actions and sent a clear sign that the honeymoon is apparently over and it might be a rocky interim.
They also overrode nearly four dozen of Stitt's vetoes, including the breast cancer and public transparency measures.
But it was too little too late. Stitt astutely took advantage of the legislative power vacuum that existed for most of the session to flex his muscles.
Republican lawmakers seemingly wandered into session with no large-scale priorities of their own, and even the House speaker acknowledged early Friday that Stitt had emerged from session with what he wanted.
Stitt's clear goals must have been a much needed beacon for a rudderless Republican legislative caucus led by new leadership trying to gain their footing and rein in state Superintendent Ryan Walters.
Walters, by the way, was the session's biggest loser amid a meteoric fall from grace and the end of his storied bromance with Stitt. The two men found themselves exchanging escalating verbal jabs over the path forward for public schools.
Stitt fired the three education board members that backed Walters, and after closed door budget negotiations, lawmakers revealed that they'd rejected most of Walters' budget requests, including spending $3 million on Bibles. Lawmakers also dealt Walters' citizenship collection rule the coup de grace.
But whether the 2025 'Stitt Show' will go down in infamy or herald a renaissance remains to be seen. One thing is for sure, this session will certainly be the one that defines Stitt's legacy in years to come.
Only time will tell if he's remembered as the ultimate champ or biggest chump.
Janelle Stecklein is editor of Oklahoma Voice. An award-winning journalist, Stecklein has been covering Oklahoma government and politics since moving to the state in 2014
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: No special session needed. Governor got what he wanted | Opinion