Oklahoma governor squares off with state Legislature; follow Capitol bureau coverage here

Gov. Kevin Stitt went on a veto spree Wednesday in an attempt to pressure the state Senate to cut taxes and pass an education plan that includes teacher pay raises and school choice tax credits.

Stitt and the Oklahoma House of Representatives on Wednesday tried double-teaming the Senate in their session-long scrap over education policy and appropriations.

“If (Stitt) continues down this road of killing policy, we will be forced to exercise our constitutional authority, as well,” Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, said Thursday. “He has chosen to exercise his veto authority. We are choosing to exercise our confirmation authority.

After GOP lawmakers in Oklahoma’s Senate GOP told House members they couldn’t come on the floor in that chamber for awhile Thursday afternoon, the House majority floor leader called it “the most juvenile move I’ve ever seen.”

Senate leadership apparently had a similar reaction on Wednesday, when House Republicans made a great show of backing Stitt in his fight with the other chamber, which is why the Senate did what it did on Thursday.

A bill Stitt is expected to sign amid the flurry of vetoes: Senate Bill 613 passed with House amendments Thursday. The governor had requested the legislation to prohibit gender transition procedures.