OKLAHOMA CITY – Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat said Thursday that Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt appears to have a pattern of vetoing Senate bills.
“My grandma used to have a phrase that said even hypochondriacs get sick every once in a while,” Treat said at his weekly press availability. “So, I may just be paranoid, but I believe where there’s paranoia, sometimes there is a real reason.”
The Senate on Wednesday overrode Stitt’s veto of Senate Bill 1470, which dealt with defendants who were abuse victims. As of publication, the House had not taken up a veto override.
Treat, R-Oklahoma City, said that last year Stitt arbitrarily vetoed a number of Senate bills, causing the upper chamber to deny a couple of his executive nominations.
“It seems like he may be headed down that same wrongheaded path, but we will watch and see,” Treat said.
Stitt also appears to be targeting Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond in his vetoes, Treat said. Stitt recently vetoed a bill that would have given Drummond’s office more power.
“And so, I just want to serve notice that we are watching,” Treat said.
He said he thinks Stitt is very gregarious and a likable guy when people are around him.
“I don’t like the way he’s operating in this building,” Treat said. “I don’t think he has treated me or the Senate fairly or equally.”
Treat said he used to like being around Stitt, but the governor has cut off all communication.
The Senate is expected to start hearing Stitt’s executive nominations next month.
“Will we confirm them all?” Treat said. “I’m not guaranteeing that. Will the governor do something boneheaded and try to veto all things just based on personality? And if he does, we have hold of these executive nominations.”
Treat said the Senate wants to treat the executive nominations with respect and fairness and avoid what happened last year.
Sen. Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, announced earlier this year she would not be carrying one of Stitt’s nominations to the State Board of Education and one to the board of directors for the Oklahoma Department of Libraries. The senator where the nominee lives must agree to carry the nomination, but the leader of the Senate can step in.
In the past, Treat stepped in when Hicks refused to carry two of Stitt’s nominations to the State Board of Education.
Treat carried them and they were confirmed.
“It was a long, long standing of the Senate if that member didn’t want to carry on that, that it didn’t go anywhere,” Treat said. “And, I had decided during the interim that I was going to revert back to that.”
Stitt’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
