Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, today released the following statement in response to the governor’s lawsuit filed against the Speaker and Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma, regarding tribal compacts:
“Today, Gov. Stitt filed the latest in a series of lawsuits that waste taxpayer dollars and attempt to undermine legitimate compact negotiations with our state’s federally recognized tribes. A plain reading of the decisions in Treat I and II shows that his legal questions have already been answered by the court and the governor simply fails or refuses to accept the answer and recognize the law. This is further evidenced by the litigation currently filed in the District of Columbia. Rather than accept the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision, and work with the Legislature and our state’s tribal partners on a way forward, Gov. Stitt has spent tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on D.C. attorneys in an attempt to give up Oklahoma sovereignty to the Biden Administration in hopes that they will agree with him and undermine Oklahoma law.
In his comments to the media, the governor called into question the legitimacy of the special session that was held to override his vetoes regarding legislation extending compacts with our tribal partners. The Legislature’s ability to call a special session, and the particular special session call itself, are well within the Legislature’s constitutional authority.
Both the House and Senate followed the law and the Governor simply does not agree with the result. But the legislators, those closest to all 4 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. Rather than simply allowing compacts to lapse and wasting time, and more importantly taxpayer dollars, on frivolous lawsuits, the governor should focus on ways to work with all parties, including our tribal partners, to find solutions that make sense for our entire state.
I look forward to continuing negotiations on tribal compacts with all interested parties, and await the court’s decision on the most recently filed lawsuit.”
