It all started with a request by the Democratic Senator from Norman, Mary Boren, who asked Attorney General Gentner Drummond for an opinion on Tim Gatz having the legal right to hold dual posts in state government. Before the ruling, he was Governor Stitt’s Secretary of Transportation, the Director of the Department of Transportation and the Director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority.
The AG ruled that Gatz was in violation of state law that prohibits a person to hold dual state offices. Gatz resigned and then was reappointed as the Director of ODOT.
Apparently, the AG’s ruling was only about Gatz, but the Stitt Administration was proactive in filing a lawsuit in Oklahoma County district court, seeking clarity with the courts regarding the AG Opinion on cabinet secretaries also holding agency leadership positions. Three of Stitt’s Cabinet officers, Secretary of Ag Blayne Arthur, Secretary of Human Services Deb Shropshire and Secretary of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage Shelley Zumwalt are listed on the lawsuit along with Governor Stitt.
Ag groups put their heads together and worked with several key lawmakers- found bill SB1196 that was already filed and that could be utilized to become the vehicle to exempt the Secretary of Agriculture from any ruling that might pop up later from the Attorney General. At the last moment- lawmakers added the verbiage shown below as number 32 that targets Susan Winchester and offers her an exemption as well.
The language impacting Secretary Arthur as well as Susan Winchester reads
- Any person serving as the Commissioner of Agriculture and
appointed as a Secretary in the cabinet of the Governor; and - Any person who is a member of a governing board or body of
an institution of higher education and appointed as a Secretary in
the cabinet of the Governor
It took literally just eight days for the Ag Groups, working with State Representative Jon Echols and State Senator Brent Howard to get the bill passed in the House 94 to nothing and the then Senate 31 to nothing.
If the Governor signs the measure and Oklahoma’s Secretary of Ag- currently serving as the President of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture was protected. But, Governor Stitt was concerned that the bill might weaken his argument in the state district court- so he vetoed SB 1196.
The Governor believes he has the right to have cabinet secretaries serve as agency heads as well- and spoke highly of Secretary Arthur in his media release on the veto: “This legislation is unnecessary because the law is already clear: The Governor can choose his cabinet from among the agency directors. It was clear in 2019 when I hired Blayne Arthur as Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and it was clear in 2019 and again in 2023 when I chose her as my Secretary of Agriculture,” said Gov. Stitt. “She is one of the most respected Agriculture professionals in the nation and we are lucky to have her here in Oklahoma. Not only that, but she has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times. Without question, she will continue to operate as my Secretary of Agriculture and as the Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture.
For now- the Oklahoma Farm Report has been told that the House Speaker is holding off on a veto override but it has been discussed in the state legislature that a veto override might proceed if the courts are slow to render a ruling or if they rule against the Governor.
For now, no one has asked for an opinion to the Attorney General about any other cabinet member of Governor Stitt serving at this time in a dual office capacity. Only Gatz has been singled out at this time.
Attorney General Drummond responded with a news release of his own, saying “I applaud the Legislature for its efforts to provide dual-office exemptions to Secretaries Arthur and Winchester, which is the only appropriate way for one person to legally hold multiple offices,” Drummond said. “The Governor could have approved these exemptions and allowed his appointees to continue serving without any uncertainty regarding their proper status. However, his veto makes clear that he is more interested in pursuing needless litigation than working with policymakers to solve the problem.”
