Oklahoma governor vetoes budget bills, sets up showdown

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt vetoed several key budget bills on Wednesday, setting up a showdown with lawmakers in his own party who said they will attempt to override him.

Stitt vetoed three bills that combined generate about $290 million of the Legislature’s $7.7 billion spending plan. Two of the bills temporarily divert payments to the state’s public pension systems and a third shifts money from a fund for road and bridge improvements.

Diverting revenue from the pension funds to fund state operating costs “may negatively impact the state's bond rating, which would inflict long-term damage," Stitt wrote in one of his veto messages.

Republicans have enough votes in each chamber to override the governor’s veto, and House and Senate leaders said they plan to override them as early as Wednesday.

“The deep education funding cuts the governor’s vetoes cause are unnecessary and unacceptable, as is his false rhetoric about the bills’ effect on the transportation and retirement systems," House Speaker Charles McCall and Senate President Pro Tempore said in a joint statement.

House Democrats who initially opposed many of the budget bills said Wednesday they'd join with House Republicans to help override the governor's vetoes.

“Last week, our caucus was asked to vote on a budget that borrowed money from Oklahoma retirees to pay the bills of the state. We said ‘no,’" House Democratic Leader Rep. Emily Virgin said in a statement. “Now, the vote in front of us is to support that budget, which we voted against, or uphold the governor’s veto and cut more than a hundred million dollars to public education.

“In the name of public education, members of the Oklahoma House Democratic Caucus will vote to override Governor Stitt’s veto."