Gov. Stitt vetoes restrictions on Ryan Walters, issues executive order on promotional contracts (2024)

Gov. Kevin Stitt on Friday vetoed legislation targeting State Superintendent Ryan Walters, then signed an executive order that may or may not address one of the issues in the stricken language.

In clearing the last of this year’s legislation from his desk, Stitt vetoed two sections of Senate Bill 1122, the “limits” bill for education appropriations. One section ordered Walters’ State Department of Education to continue applying for certain federal grants; the other told it to stop spending money to promote Walters.

In his veto message, Stitt said the first provision was improper and the second too vague.

A few minutes after releasing the list of 74 bills signed and five vetoed on Friday, though, Stitt announced an executive order that, at least on the point of promotional contracts, is more sweeping than the language he vetoed.

The order bans all state agencies from sole-source “PR/marketing/communications Vendors,” barring a statutory exemption, without at least a 30-day request for proposals.

The order also bans vendors from involvement in political campaigns or lobbying and says taxpayer funds cannot be spent for “self-promotion or for the promotion of any matter outside the scope of the state agency.”

“Oklahomans expect my administration to steward each tax dollar well, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Stitt said in a press release. “It makes no sense for state agencies who pay the salaries of communications staff to outsource work to PR firms via sole source contracts. It’s wasteful and we’re putting a stop to it statewide.”

The legislation Stitt vetoed stemmed from reports that the Education Department is paying Vought Strategies, a Virginia public relations firm, $5,000 a month to raise Walters’ profile through national media appearances and interviews.

Walters says the contract is to communicate his policies to parents.

There have also been questions about a six-figure salary paid by the state to Walters’ campaign manager, Texas resident Matt Langston, and whether Langston is connected to Vought Strategies.

But whether Stitt’s executive order will do much to alter current practice is unclear. Walters claimed vindication and noted in a social media post that the executive order does not cover existing contracts.

And the Vought Strategies contract did go through a bidding process. According to reports, the Virginia company was the only one to respond.

Whether the contracts violate the prohibition on self-promotion is likely open for argument. Asked for clarification on Stitt’s position, spokesman Meyer Siegfried said a determination will be up to the Office of Management and Enterprise Services.

Stitt’s executive order did not address complaints that Walters’ Education Department has not renewed applications for federal grants on which many districts rely for mental health and other services. The department has denied this.

In any event, that issue may be clarified on Thursday when the Legislative Office of Financial Transparency is scheduled to deliver a report on the matter with Walters in attendance.

The bills dealt with Friday included all remaining limits bills, with the governor signing all except Senate Bill 1167, which would have raised the rates paid to private prison administrators. Stitt said the provision was not part of the budget to which he agreed.

Also vetoed were measures related to police and fire pensions and one that would have required school districts to excuse students for mental health counseling and therapy.

In the later case, Stitt said such absences are already excused.

Besides SB 1022, Stitt issued a partial, or line-item, veto of SB 1399, which creates a maintenance fund for state properties, including state parks. In his veto message, Stitt said the 11-member oversight board is unconstitutional and a “legislative usurpation of an executive function.”

Rarely used in recent years, line-item vetoes are allowed by the Oklahoma Constitution for any bill “making appropriations of money embracing distinct items.”

Neither of the sections vetoed by Stitt involves actual appropriations, and SB 1399 is not an appropriations bill at all, but in his veto message the governor said he could exercise specific vetoes because both add “conditions and restrictions to funds that have been previously appropriated.”

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