The Oklahoma Supreme Court says the state legislature has authority to override the governor's vetoes on tribal compacts.
Last year, the legislature passed bills to extend existing compact agreements with multiple tribal nations over tobacco sales and license plates. Gov. Kevin Stitt rejected those extensions, saying they were a bad deal for the state.
Since those vetoes came after the end of the normal session, the legislature called a special session to override his vetoes.
Stitt said that violated the governor’s power to negotiate tribal compacts. He sued House Speaker Charles McCall and Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat, asking the court to void the overrides and declare the special session unlawful.
“We need the Supreme Court to let us know who has the authority,” Stitt said when he announced the suit. “Does the governor have the authority to negotiate the compacts or does the legislature?”
Now the Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled unanimously: The special legislative session was constitutional, and Stitt’s vetoes were lawfully overridden. The Court also said the governor’s authority to negotiate compacts with Tribal Nations isn’t enshrined in the state constitution — it was bestowed by the legislature through statute.
Treat didn’t hold back in criticizing the governor in a news release about the ruling.
“This was an unsurprising, but welcome ruling by the Oklahoma Supreme Court,” Treat said in his written statement. “We knew from the onset this litigation was unproductive and a waste of taxpayer money. This is money that could have been spent on essential services for Oklahomans. Instead, it will go toward legal fees for outside counsel in a failed attempt on flawed logic and the governor’s authority to make policy decisions.”
Attorney General Gentner Drummond echoed Treat.
“Gov. Stitt has repeatedly abused his office to wage baseless legal battles against our Native American tribes, wasting millions of dollars in state resources,” he said in a statement.
Stitt responded that he is “thankful that today’s decision gives future governors clarity around compact negotiations.”
He touted his success in getting new compacts signed in 2024. He said his office is “in talks right now with Cherokee officials to broker a car tag compact, and before this ruling we were confident we would get that done.”
Stitt said he hopes lawmakers will join him in continuing those negotiations because of the amount of uncollected tolls from drivers with tribal nation car tags, an issue that’s come up before.
In the past, the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority has taken responsibility for the issues with collecting tolls.
“Now that we know that tribal governments can go to the Governor or the Legislature to negotiate compacts, I hope the Legislature agrees with me that we need to collect from every tag that drives on our toll roads,” he said in his statement.
Governor signs nine tobacco compacts with tribal nations
Meanwhile, the governor and nine different tribal nations have agreed to tobacco compacts. Most recently, a compact between the state and Choctaw Nation became public this week.
A tobacco compact serves as a framework for a tax revenue-sharing agreement of tobacco sales on the tribal nation’s reservation.
The spate of new compacts represents a thawing of an icy relationship between tribes and Stitt. Annually, these compacts net more than $100 million in tax money for state and tribal governments combined.
The nine tribal nations that have signed tobacco sales compacts with the state this year are:
- Apache Tribe of Oklahoma
- Chickasaw Nation
- Citizen Potawatomi Nation
- Wyandotte Nation
- Wichita and Affiliated Tribes
- Otoe-Missouria Tribe
- Cherokee Nation
- Caddo Nation
- Choctaw Nation
Additionally, the Chickasaw Nation has renewed its car tag compact with the state, though it’s the only tribal nation to do so this year.
