OKLAHOMA CITY — Four years after the Oklahoma Legislature made Gov. Kevin Stitt the state’s most powerful governor, several GOP lawmakers want to limit the governor’s ability to make appointments to key state boards and commissions.
Republican lawmakers want to reduce the number of appointments Stitt gets to the State Board of Education, Veterans Commission and the Turnpike Authority board — all governing bodies currently stacked with the governor’s appointees.
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In the wake of the Swadley’s scandal, a leading GOP senator wants to take away the governor’s power to hire and fire the executive director of the Tourism and Recreation Department and return that authority to the agency’s governing board.
If successful, the changes would be a dramatic reversal from four years ago when the GOP-led Legislature expanded the governor’s power by giving Stitt the authority to hire and fire the heads of five large state agencies.
“I think we got a little carried away,” Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore, said of the agency reforms at the start of Stitt’s first term.
McBride introduced legislation to dilute Stitt’s near-monopoly on the State Board of Education by adding four legislative appointees to the seven-member panel that includes six Stitt appointees. State Superintendent Ryan Walters, who also serves on the Stitt’s Cabinet, chairs the board.
Noting the board has been stacked with non-educators from urban areas, McBride said the House and Senate should have a say in the board’s composition to add more diversity to the panel.
“I hope the governor does not take this as a personal attack,” he said. “It’s just kind of a practical way to look at things.”
The Legislature in 2011 gave governors the power to replace board members at any point during their term. Previously, board members were appointed for six-year terms and could not be replaced until their term concluded.
Stitt said he won’t sign any bills that reduce his authority over state agencies, boards and commissions.
“That would be kind of moving backwards, in my opinion,” he said.
Giving the executive branch more control over state agencies was a key theme of Stitt’s 2018 campaign. In 2019, GOP lawmakers overwhelmingly passed legislation to give the governor the power to hire and fire the heads of the Office of Juvenile Affairs, Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Oklahoma Health Care Authority, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, and Oklahoma Department of Transportation.
Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, said he still philosophically thinks the governor should have significant control over executive branch agencies. Four years ago, he touted the agency reforms that gave the governor more power.
“I still believe in having accountability there,” he said. “That there is someone to hold accountable if something goes wrong.”
Rep. Danny Sterling, R-Tecumseh, who has been critical of the ACCESS Oklahoma Turnpike expansion, introduced legislation that would reduce the number of appointees Stitt has on the Turnpike Authority board.
The governor currently gets to appoint all six members. Under Sterling’s House Bill 2263, the governor would only get two appointments, with the other four appointments divided between the House speaker and the Senate president pro tem.
Sterling cited recent drama related to some of the governor’s appointments to the Veterans Commission as a prime example of why changes are needed. The attorney general recently said Stitt did not follow state law when appointing three members of the commission.
Rep. Jay Steagall, R-Yukon, is pushing a bill to eliminate the governor’s monopoly on appointing members of the Veterans Commission.
Preventing the governor from having the sole authority to name all the members of a board or commission could free appointees from feeling as though they have to cater to the governor’s wishes, Sterling said.
“It’s just kind of a balance of power, and implementing checks and balances from the standpoint that the House has input, the Senate has input and the governor still has input as well,” he said.
Sen. Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, said Democrats warned the majority party four years ago about giving the governor more power. Kirt said she hasn’t looked at the specific House bills that would limit the governor’s appointments to key boards and commissions.
But looking back on the 2019 state agency reforms, she said giving the governor more power limited public oversight and the flow of information from some of the biggest agencies.
“It’s really hard not to be like, ‘I told you so,’” she said.
Feb. 6, 2023 video. The Oklahoma governor delivered his State of the State address to open the legislative session. Video via okhouse.gov
Tulsa-area state legislators and how to contact them
Sen. Nathan Dahm
DISTRICT 33
Sen. Nathan Dahm (R)
Hometown: Broken Arrow
District area: South and east Tulsa County
Phone: 405-521-5551
Sen. Dana Prieto

DISTRICT 34
Sen. Dana Prieto (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Owasso and northern Tulsa County
Phone: 405-521-5566
Email Sen. Prieto
Sen. Jo Anna Dossett

DISTRICT 35
Sen. Jo Anna Dossett (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: South and central Tulsa
Phone: 405-521-5624
Sen. John Haste

DISTRICT 36
Sen. John Haste (R)
Hometown: Broken Arrow
District area: Eastern Tulsa County, western Wagoner County
Phone: 405-521-5602
Email Sen. Haste
Sen. Todd Gollihare

DISTRICT 12
Sen. Todd Gollihare (R)
Hometown: Kellyville
District area: Creek County
Phone: 405-521-5528
Sen. Kevin Matthews

DISTRICT 11
Sen. Kevin Matthews (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Northern Tulsa, southeast Osage County
Phone: 405-521-5598
Sen. Joe Newhouse

DISTRICT 25
Sen. Joe Newhouse (R)
Hometown: Broken Arrow
District area: South Tulsa, Bixby, Broken Arrow and Jenks
Phone: 405-521-5675
Sen. Dave Rader

DISTRICT 39
Sen. Dave Rader (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Central and south Tulsa
Phone: 405-521-5620
Sen. Cody Rogers

DISTRICT 37
Sen. Cody Rogers (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District Area: West Tulsa County
Phone: 405-521-5600
Rep. Meloyde Blancett

DISTRICT 78
Rep. Meloyde Blancett (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Midtown Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7334
Rep. Jeff Boatman

DISTRICT 67
Rep. Jeff Boatman (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Southeast Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7341
Rep. Amanda Swope

DISTRICT 71
Rep. Amanda Swope (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Brookside in Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7361
Rep. Suzanne Schreiber

DISTRICT 70
Rep. Suzanne Schreiber (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Midtown Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7359
Email Rep. Schreiber
Rep. Dean Davis

DISTRICT 98
Rep. Dean Davis (R)
Hometown: Broken Arrow
District area: Elm Place in east Broken Arrow, east to 248th East Avenue
Phone: 405-557-7362
Rep. Mark Tedford

DISTRICT 69
Rep. Mark Tedford (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Jenks, Bixby and Tulsa between those cities
Phone: 405-557-7331
Rep. Scott Fetgatter

DISTRICT 16
Rep. Scott Fetgatter (R)
Hometown: Okmulgee
District area: Okmulgee County and the southeastern tip of Tulsa County
Phone: 405-557-7373
Rep. Ross Ford

DISTRICT 76
Rep. Ross Ford (R)
Hometown: Broken Arrow
District area: West Broken Arrow
Phone: 405-557-7347
Rep. Regina Goodwin

DISTRICT 73
Rep. Regina Goodwin (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Downtown and northwest Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7406
Rep. Kyle Hilbert

DISTRICT 29
Rep. Kyle Hilbert (R)
Hometown: Depew
District area: Westernmost Tulsa County, Creek County
Phone: 405-557-7353
Rep. Mark Lawson

DISTRICT 30
Rep. Mark Lawson (R)
Hometown: Sapulpa
District area: Sapulpa, Mounds, southwest Tulsa County
Phone: 405- 557-7414
Rep. T.J. Marti

DISTRICT 75
Rep. T.J. Marti (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: East Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7356
Rep. Stan May

DISTRICT 80
Rep. Stan May (R)
Hometown: Broken Arrow
District area: Southeast Tulsa County; small section of southwest Wagoner County
Phone: 405-557-7338
Rep. Monroe Nichols

DISTRICT 72
Rep. Monroe Nichols (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Southeast corner of Inner Dispersal Loop to Owasso; also includes Turley and Sperry
Phone: 405-557-7391
Rep. Clay Staires

DISTRICT 66
Rep. Clay Staires (R)
Hometown: Skiatook
District area: Sand Springs, west Tulsa between Arkansas River and Osage County line and Riverview
Phone: 405-557-7390
Rep. Terry O’Donnell

DISTRICT 23
Rep. Terry O’Donnell (R)
Hometown: Catoosa
District area: Catoosa, east Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7379
Rep. Melissa Provenzano

DISTRICT 79
Rep. Melissa Provenzano (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: East and southeast Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7330
Rep. Lonnie Sims

DISTRICT 68
Rep. Lonnie Sims (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: West Tulsa County from the bend of Arkansas River down to Glenpool
Phone: 405-557-7340
Rep. John Kane

DISTRICT 11
Rep. John Kane (R)
Hometown: Bartlesville
District area: Bartlesville, north Tulsa County including Collinsville
Phone: 405-557-7358
Rep. Mark Vancuren

DISTRICT 74
Rep. Mark Vancuren (R)
Hometown: Owasso
District area: Suburban Owasso
Phone: 405-557-7377
Rep. John Waldron

DISTRICT 77
Rep. John Waldron (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Northeast Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7410
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