Supremes to Stitt: You Lose!

Written By Meredith Johnson

(OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.) The Oklahoma Supreme Court announced their decision in Treat v. Stitt on April 2. The ruling found that the Oklahoma state legislature has the authority to make tribal compact negotiations. The unanimous ruling also clarified that the legislature can lawfully override the governor’s veto during special sessions. 

Read this story on Mvskoke Media here. 

Stitt filed the case last year against Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat and House Speaker Charles McCall after a legislative veto override occurred during a special session. The legislature had passed bills on several existing tribal compact agreements over license plates and tobacco sales during the regular session. Stitt then vetoed the compacts at the end of the session, and in order to override the vetoes the legislature called a special session.  

Muscogee (Creek) Nation Principal Chief David Hill made the following statement, “We’re pleased to see that the Oklahoma Supreme Court saw past baseless claims and affirmed the authority of the state legislation when it comes to compacts. Unfortunately, these futile political maneuvers have delayed opportunities to work collaboratively as governments. And it’s a shame that millions of dollars in taxpayer monies have been wasted on unproductive litigation. Hopefully, the future holds a willingness to respect our sovereignty, the law, and move forward with the reality that we can collaborate in respect and good faith for the betterment of all.” 

Governor Stitt said in a statement following the announcement, “Now that we know that tribal governments can go to the Governor or the Legislature to negotiate compacts, I hope the Legislature agrees with me that we need to collect from every tag that drives on our toll roads. Regardless of the outcome of this case, Oklahoma knows that I am a Governor that is going to stand up for fairness for all four million Oklahomans.”

State Attorney General Genter Drummound who represented the Legislature in the suit echoed remarks made by tribal leaders and issued a statement after the ruling, “Gov. Stitt has repeatedly abused his office to wage baseless legal battles against our Native American tribes, wasting millions of dollars in state resources. This ruling makes clear that the Governor’s compacting authority is statutory only, subject to intervention by the Legislature when the Governor fails or refuses to act in the best interest of all four million Oklahomans.” 

In a press conference on April 4, Treat made the following remarks, “…the Stitt litigation went down 9-nothing, I know he said he was glad to have clarification but we were all pretty clear, the House and Senate knew what the law was, the Attorney General knew what the law was and nine justices knew what the law was already. Now we have that behind us we can actually move forward. I am, actually, got some hope now that he’s made some agreements with some of our tribes. Now we can turn a page and be glad to have that behind us. That was frivolous litigation.”