Stitt files lawsuit against legislative leaders following veto overrides

Aug. 1—Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt filed a lawsuit with the state's highest court Monday asking the court to rule if the state's legislature had the authority to override his vetoes and extend tribal compacts.

Stitt argues the Oklahoma Constitution and statute gives him the sole authority to negotiate, enter, or extend compacts and named Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, and Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, in the suit.

Both the Oklahoma House and Senate voted to override HB 1005X and SB 26X in July. HB 1005X dealt with motor vehicle compacts between Oklahoma and tribal nations with SB 26X dealing with tobacco compacts.

Stitt vetoed both bills in May, claiming the bills were not in the state's best interest and violated state law, and said the bills amount "to a circumvention of the executive's authority to negotiate compacts."

The governor argues language defining "Indian County" needs to be changed in the current compacts following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma, which says Congress never "disestablished" the reservation status of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has since applied the ruling to the Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Seminole, Quapaw and the Ottawa and Peoria Nations in eastern Oklahoma.

The governor claims he has made attempts to negotiate new compacts with tribal nations with an offer of a two-year extension at the current split of 50% with the only change being language.

Stitt wants to change the language to state the compacts would only apply to lands owned by a tribal nation or held in trust by the federal government, or in a restricted title by tribal members and argues if it's not changed, then all of eastern Oklahoma would be reservation lands.

Stitt believes the language in the current compacts could allow tribes to purchase new stores and sell tobacco across eastern Oklahoma and still be eligible to apply for the 50% split of tax revenue.

"As governor, I will not give an inch; I'm not going to make eastern Oklahoma a reservation," Stitt said in regard to language in the compacts. "I'm going to preserve our legal arguments."

The governor said he will continue to fight the issue as long as he is governor "to make sure that we're one state with one set of rules regardless of your race or where you live."

Cherokee Nation Attorney General Sara Hill says Stitt has never attempted to negotiate a new compact with the tribal nation and Stitt has created a problem in the state as several other compacts have expired, such as the hunting and fishing compacts.

"While the Oklahoma Legislature has unified to protect Oklahoma's revenue and extend tribal tag and tobacco compacts, Gov. Stitt still prefers division and lawsuits," Hill said.

In a statement, McCall called Stitt's lawsuit a waste of taxpayer's dollars and an attempt to undermine "legitimate compact negotiations" with tribal nations.

"Both the House and Senate followed the law, and the governor simply does not agree with the result," McCall said. "But the legislators, those closest to all four million Oklahomans, know that the citizens are counting on them to find solutions rather than to simply fear-monger and cost the state tens of millions of tax dollars that go to important core services like education."

Treat said the vote was to give Stitt and the tribes more time to come to an agreement instead of losing out on millions of dollars in revenue that would be lost if the compacts were not extended.

"These compacts in particular weren't new; they weren't unique in any way; they simply kept the exact same language as before to give him an opportunity to try and do the right thing by working with the tribes to renegotiate the compacts, while ensuring the state didn't lose millions in revenue.," Treat said. "He has once again failed Oklahoma."