OKLAHOMA CITY, OK \u2014 Oklahoma\u2019s 2025 legislative session came to a dramatic close late Thursday night, marked by a record number of veto overrides and heightened political tension between Governor Kevin Stitt and lawmakers.<\/p>\n
For much of the session\u2019s final days, the atmosphere suggested a smooth ending. There were no bills held hostage, no calls for a special session, and no typical budget impasse. The House, Senate, and Governor appeared largely aligned\u2014until Stitt issued a record 68 vetoes, igniting a fierce showdown.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is stuff that I know is bad for Oklahoma, bad for taxpayers,\u201d Stitt said in a Facebook video explaining his decisions.<\/p>\n
Among the vetoed bills was one sponsored by State Representative Melissa Provenzano (D-Tulsa), who is currently battling breast cancer. The bill, which aimed to require insurance companies to cover diagnostic mammograms, had garnered bipartisan and near-unanimous support before Stitt vetoed it.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you read the bill? Did you understand what it was we\u2019re trying to do?\u201d Provenzano said after the veto.<\/p>\n
Other vetoes included legislation to strengthen DUI laws, expand open records, require ethics training for state department heads, and allocate resources to address the backlog of missing Indigenous people cases.<\/p>\n
Legislative leaders initially planned to override only a handful of the vetoes, but Stitt responded by threatening to support primary challengers against those lawmakers, posting a video to his official Facebook page.<\/p>\n
In defiance, the legislature placed all 68 vetoed bills on the table for override votes. Ultimately, lawmakers overrode 47 vetoes\u2014a new state record.<\/p>\n
Late Thursday, a resolution was introduced to remove Mental Health Commissioner Allie Friesen, a Stitt appointee, from office. In response, Stitt issued a controversial statement suggesting, without evidence, that the wife of the Senate resolution\u2019s author was responsible for the department\u2019s issues.<\/p>\n
The governor\u2019s statement drew swift bipartisan condemnation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very, very, very disappointed in our governor, that he would put out a press release as disrespectful and disingenuous as this one,\u201d said Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton (R-Tuttle).<\/p>\n
Senators across party lines, including Christi Gillespie (R-Broken Arrow), Aaron Reinhardt (R-Jenks), Casey Murdock (R-Felt), and Bill Coleman (R-Ponca City), denounced the statement, emphasizing the need to keep family out of political disputes.<\/p>\n
The resolution to remove Friesen passed overwhelmingly in both chambers, marking the end of a tumultuous legislative session.<\/p>\n
The 2025 Oklahoma legislature will be remembered for its unprecedented veto battles and the intense political drama that unfolded in its final days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK \u2014 Oklahoma\u2019s 2025 legislative session came to a dramatic close late Thursday night, marked by a record number of veto overrides and heightened political tension between Governor Kevin Stitt and lawmakers. For much of the session\u2019s final days, the atmosphere suggested a smooth ending. There were no bills held hostage, no calls […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5349,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[137],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5345","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oklahoma"},"yoast_head":"\n