Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on education funding: 'Cooler heads are going to prevail'

Gov. Kevin Stitt is holding out hope that state lawmakers will agree on a series of education funding proposals that are currently mired in Capitol politics.

During his weekly news conference that covered a wide range of topics, the governor responded to the ongoing standoff between House and Senate leadership over education policy and funding. House Speaker Charles McCall issued an ultimatum this month, saying he would block the Senate's slate of education bills unless the Senate approves his chamber's $800 million education package as-is, without amendment.

McCall said he would interpret any amendments to his legislation on family tax credits, teacher pay raises and school funding as an act of "sabotage." But Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat has said the speaker's bills don't have enough votes to pass without being amended.

"I still think cooler heads are going to prevail," Stitt told reporters on Friday.

The governor said both chambers are proposing thoughtful reforms, but noted that the bills carry a financial impact to the state. It's likely that these education reforms will be part of negotiations on a broader budget agreement that's due by late May.

"The Senate obviously is a separate chamber, and they've got their own ideas. And then I know that the House is going to look at those things thoughtfully, but we may move some buckets (of money) around," said Stitt referring to the budget negotiation process. "The great idea is we all are in agreement, the pro tem and the speaker, that we want to invest in public education and we also want to invest in our charter schools. We want to invest in our private schools. We want to give parents more choices and more options. We think more schools are good. And so I think we're at a really good spot; I think we're talking and we're all on the same page."

What's next for Oklahoma's abortion law?

During his Friday news conference, the governor also commented on the recent state Supreme Court's ruling that that Oklahoma's constitution protects a woman’s right to have an abortion to save her own life.

Stitt said Oklahoma law already protects the life of the mother.

"Those are things that are very, very important to all of us as Oklahomans, so it was just confusing, kind of, how they wrote that (opinion). It looked like they were trying to legislate from the bench," said Stitt.

Days after the state court opinion, the Legislature failed to advance a bill that would have allowed for the termination of pregnancies in the case of rape, incest and other reasons. Oklahoma lawmakers, like those in many other states, have hurried to amend state abortion limitations in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

Passage of the bill now will need agreement by both House and Senate leadership. Stitt has said he would sign that kind of legislation.

"I encourage the Legislature to continue to make that more clear. If there's a problem with the clarity and the way they wrote the laws, then let's make sure that's very, very clear. We always want to protect the life of the mother," he said.

Holding public officials to high standards, Stitt chides 'poor choices'

Broken Arrow state Rep. Dean Davis was arrested in Bricktown this week on a public drunkenness complaint. When asked to comment on it, the governor said he didn't know the specifics, but urged people to make better decisions.

"You know, we gotta be smarter than that. We're leaders. We're public figures," Stitt said. "People sometimes make poor choices, and they need to be held accountable. We're gonna be a law and order state in Oklahoma, and we hold ourselves to higher standards, especially as as public officials."

Davis briefly spoke on the House floor Thursday, saying he disputes any wrongdoing, but apologized to his colleagues for the "unnecessary distraction."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Gov. Stitt hopes 'cooler heads' will settle education funding