House Dems explain why they voted to override vetoes... of budget bills they opposed

Last week, House Democrats largely opposed three bills that plugged some of the budget shortfall by cutting the amount of funds that were supposed to go to teacher, firefighter, and law enforcement pension funds, as well as money from transportation (replacing those funds by more bond indebtedness). On May 5th, 18 of 23 House Democrats voted against HB 2741, 19 voted against HB 2742, and 8 voted against HB 2743. Today, they reversed course. On HB 2741, just Rep. Mickey Dollens (D-OKC) voted against overriding Gov. Stitt's veto, Dollens and Rep. Regina Goodwin (D-Tulsa) voted against overriding the veto of HB 2742, and only Dollens voted against the override of HB 2743.

The House Democrats were against the bills before they were for them?

Democrats Strengthen Veto Majority in Support of Public Education

OKLAHOMA CITY -- House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, released the following statement announcing that members of the House Democratic Caucus would join legislative Republicans to override Governor Stitt’s veto of House Bill 2741, House Bill 2742 and House Bill 2743.

“This legislative body, led by Republican majorities in both chambers, spent a large portion of last year’s legislative session giving the governor more power. Conversely, Republican leadership has spent this session trying to protect the legislature from an overzealous executive branch instead of taking back those increased powers.

Legislature prepares for battle royale with Gov. Stitt, starts veto override votes

Legislative leaders set veto override votes

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Legislature will consider overriding Gov. Kevin Stitt's vetoes of budget legislation today. The House of Representatives returns to session at 5 p.m. and the Senate is currently in session. Overrides of budget legislation vetoes will be taken up today.

House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, and Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, issued the following joint statement:

"The Legislature will initiate veto overrides immediately. Since the governor refused to do so, legislators will rise to the moment to enact a balanced budget for the people of Oklahoma that protects education from deep cuts without harming the transportation or public retirement systems. 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.”

UPDATE: The Legislature is voting even as we speak. You can follow my Capitol News list on Twitter for live-tweets of the events, which are swiftly unfolding:
A Twitter List by JamisonFaught

BREAKING: Governor Stitt vetoes state budget bills, calls for Legislature to re-evaluate

GOVERNOR STITT VETOES LEGISLATURE’S PROPOSED FY 2021 BUDGET

OKLAHOMA CITY (May 13, 2020)— Governor Kevin Stitt today issued the following statement after vetoing the Oklahoma Legislature’s proposed Fiscal Year 2021 Budget (Senate Bill 1922):

“This budget was created behind closed doors, without meaningful input or consultation from the Executive Branch.

This proposed budget does not reflect the values of Oklahoma or the clear directive voters gave elected officials at the ballot box of living within our means and making hard decisions when times get tough. Instead, Senate Bill 1922 reflects misguided policies that conservative republicans have spent the past decade reversing. It is propped up with one-time funds that will not be available for Fiscal Year 2022.

Gov. Stitt vetoes two budget bills: "I will not play a part in harming OK's teachers"

Governor Kevin Stitt announced yesterday afternoon that he is vetoing HB2741 and HB2742, which were part of the state budget passed by the Legislature, and which removed payments of $73M from the Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System, and nearly $39M from Oklahoma Firefighters Retirement, Police Pension and Law Enforcement Employees Retirement Systems in order to limit cuts elsewhere in the state budget.

Gov. Stitt quoted Tom Spencer, executive director of the Teacher Retirement System, "The TRS portfolio is down $1,000,000,000 [one billion] since June 30th of 2019. If we closed the books today, the funded ratio on a market basis would drop from 72.3% to around 64%."