Oklahoma lawmakers will let Gov. Kevin Stitt’s vetoes of three pandemic relief bills stand and can wait till February to maintain any funding for permitted tasks, legislative leaders stated Monday.
House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, stated any doable veto overrides must embrace inflation relief, together with the elimination of the state’s share of grocery gross sales taxes. The House and Senate have been at odds over the most effective insurance policies to fight greater inflation. Inflation relief was the topic of a separate particular session known as by the governor in May.
“The House stands ready to resume special session if the Senate will pass the House inflation relief bills Oklahomans need,” McCall stated in an announcement Monday afternoon. “At a minimum, a moratorium on the grocery tax like the one the House has passed repeatedly would provide long overdue relief to Oklahomans fighting historic inflation.
“The House is open to any options to provide the inflation relief Oklahomans deserve. Absent that action by the Senate, the House does not plan to be back in special session for overrides or any other purpose.”
Alex Gerszewski, spokesman for Senate Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, stated lawmakers will act on excellent pandemic relief bills within the common session that begins in February. Treat stays dedicated to finding out the state’s tax insurance policies and tax cuts on a broader foundation than simply the grocery gross sales tax, he stated.
The Legislature’s particular session for the approval of tasks below the federal American Rescue Plan Act will mechanically adjourn on Friday primarily based on a beforehand permitted joint House and Senate decision.
Stitt final week vetoed three bills that offered federal relief funds for arts nonprofits, Oklahoma Educational Television Authority transmitter upgrades and regional facilities for emergency response. The Legislature gave itself till Oct. 14 to return again and override any vetoes.
In veto messages, Stitt stated none of these three tasks met his objective of utilizing federal relief cash to fund “long-term strategic investments that will change the trajectory of our state.”
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