Governor Stitt's 2026 Veto List

House Bill 1250 Veto Message
House Bill 1250 creates a revolving fund to provide grants to local law enforcement offices to test technology for pre-stop interactions between officers and drivers. That technology would allow citizens to submit “humanizing” information about physical or mental health impairments before a traffic stop occurs. This bill is a solution in search of a problem, and appears to create a taxpayer-funded opportunity for a single company’s product. Regardless of one’s preferences and feelings, an officer must be able to conduct traffic stops. A text message or app doesn’t replace that. This proposal would add an unnecessary layer to traffic stops, create unrealistic expectations for officers and citizens, and spend taxpayer dollars on technology local law enforcement is unlikely to be able to use effectively. It also reflects a misguided belief that every law enforcement encounter should be filtered through claims of special status. Additionally, there is concern that this company engaged in unregistered lobbying for their bill that promotes a product pushing woke values and special interests over public safety.

House Bill 1752 Veto Message
This bill would carve out a special exemption for the Attorney General and the District Attorneys Council from the central purchasing process for motor vehicles. My administration has already made clear, through law and executive action, that state agencies should be intentional, disciplined, and transparent in how they purchase and maintain vehicles. Creating an exception for selected offices invites exactly the kind of fragmented fleet management and unchecked purchasing that the State has worked to correct.

House Bill 3003 Veto Message
This bill would extend the sunset for the Board of Chiropractic Examiners until July 1, 2031. Though I support licensing and oversight of these practitioners, I have consistently opposed the rubber stamping of licensing boards through the sunset process. Sunset provisions are supposed to ensure that government doesn’t grow by default. They are meant to prompt accountability, not automatic renewals. The Legislature has a responsibility to justify each reauthorization, not simply assume it. Once again, I am calling on the Legislature to take sunset reviews seriously and restore real oversight. Government will always grow unless elected leaders step in to stop it. Other states, like Utah, have consolidated the administration of licenses to a single state agency. A one-stop shop for license issuance and renewals. It’s time to consolidate medical licensing boards under one entity. This would save Oklahomans tens of millions in administrative costs alone. Oklahomans elected me with a prerogative to streamline and reduce the size of government. I urge the Legislature to consolidate these professional licensing boards into a single entity to reduce bureaucracy for both practitioners and constituents.

House Bill 3004 Veto Message
This bill would extend the sunset for the Board of Examiners in Optometry until July 1, 2031. Though I support licensing and oversight of these practitioners, sunset provisions are supposed to provide a regularly scheduled opportunity to review agencies and boards to ensure that government doesn’t grow by default. They are meant to prompt accountability, not automatic renewals. Other states have streamlined their licensing boards and agencies, and can serve as a model for Oklahoma. Utah consolidated the administration of licenses to a single state agency while maintaining subject matter expertise in the regulation of these occupations. A one-stop shop for license issuance and renewals. Tennessee moved their medical licensing boards under their Department of Health. It’s time to consolidate medical licensing boards under one entity. This would save Oklahomans tens of millions in administrative costs alone. Oklahomans elected me with a prerogative to streamline and reduce the size of government. I urge the Legislature to consolidate these professional licensing boards into a single entity to reduce bureaucracy for both practitioners and constituents.

House Bill 3006 Veto Message
House Bill 3006 would have extended the sunset of the Oklahoma Advisory Council on Indian Education for another five years. But this advisory council does not appear to have functioned as an active or effective body, at least based on publicly available records. Just as troubling, it has not operated with the transparency the public is entitled to. The available record suggests it has met only about six times in the past five years, and only about twice in the last three, despite a legal duty to meet quarterly and submit annual reports.Its purpose is also largely redundant. The council’s advisory role overlaps with work already being done by the Office of American Indian Education at the State Department of Education. If the goal is smaller, more accountable government, there is no reason to keep extending a dormant, redundant advisory council that lacks transparency. It should instead be eliminated.

House Bill 3007 Veto Message
House Bill 3007 preserves unnecessary government bloat by extending the life of advisory councils whose functions can and should be absorbed within the existing agency structure. The Department of Environmental Quality can use existing personnel, subject matter experts, and agency liaisons to coordinate with stakeholders and perform the work of these advisory councils without another layer of government. These advisory councils were never meant to exist indefinitely. They were created over 15 years ago with sunset dates to ensure periodic scrutiny and justification for their continued existence. Instead, the Legislature appears to have renewed them as a matter of course. When the sunset process fails to provide that scrutiny, I will. This veto reflects a straightforward principle: government should be lean, efficient, and accountable.

House Bill 3078 Veto Message
This bill would require all executive agencies, boards, and commissions to include a donation prompt for the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs on forms used in the course of state business. That would include driver license applications, motor vehicle registrations, hunting and fishing license applications, income tax forms, and other forms used to process licenses and essential services. Official state forms used to conduct government business are not the place to solicit donations. Many state agencies perform important work, and many public causes are worthy of support. Once official state forms are used this way, every worthy cause will have reason to ask for the same treatment. That would turn routine government forms into fundraising tools, distracting from their purpose and creating unnecessary pressure on citizens simply trying to access basic state services. I strongly encourage Oklahomans to continue to support veterans through dedicated programs, responsible funding, and donations to their preferred veteran non-profits. Oklahoma state forms should remain focused on the government function they are meant to perform, not become fundraising tools to reinforce government services.

House Bill 3278 Veto Message
House Bill 3278 would allow the Attorney General’s Office to unilaterally find that any public body has violated the Open Meetings Act without any formal legal action and without giving that body a meaningful opportunity to defend itself. A city council, school board, state agency, or county commission could be found guilty and fined based on the Attorney General’s own opinion and a “more likely than not” finding. Once issued, these findings would be immediately enforceable with no meaningful opportunity to challenge the accusations in court first. Open government is a pillar of public trust. That is exactly why one office should not be given unchecked power to adjudicate law violations behind closed doors. This bill would allow the Attorney General to act as investigator, adjudicator, and enforcer all at once, creating the kind of concentrated power our system of checks and balances is designed to prevent. Meanwhile, Oklahoma law already provides real penalties for Open Meeting Act violations, which are imposed through proper legal proceedings, notice, and an opportunity to be heard in court and defend. Public bodies should be held accountable, but I cannot approve a bill that abandons due process and gives one office the power to investigate, decide, and enforce its own accusations.

House Bill 3320 Veto Message
House Bill 3320 would make permanent 39 boards and commissions instead of subjecting them to the regular evaluation and sunset processes. It should be a surprise to no one that I am for smaller government. As President Ronald Reagan famously said, “a government program is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.”

House Bill 3443 Veto Message
This bill would raise fifteen (15) different permit fees collected by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation ("ODOT"). Over the course of my administration, I have consistently opposed raising fees on consumers and businesses to raise revenue. These fee increases inevitably become back-door tax increases on consumers and businesses.

House Bill 3500 Veto Message
Under current law, Oklahoma has a clear brightline rule: a beneficiary must file the required paperwork within nine months of the property owner's death, or the property returns to the estate. HB 3500 replaces that certainty with a probate-driven process that depends on creditor deadlines, beneficiary notices, possible publication, and additional waiting periods, which will cloud title and invite litigation over who owns the property.

House Bill 3660 Veto Message
This bill raises questions about moral and human dignity that go beyond ordinary burial practices. Reducing human remains into soil for reuse crosses a line that many Oklahomans believe should be approached with far greater caution. The way a society treats the dead reflects how it understands the dignity of human life. In my view, this legislation moves too far toward treating the human body as material to be repurposed, rather than remains to be reverently laid to rest. Human beings are made in God's image, and our laws should reflect that dignity even in death.

House Bill 3972 Veto Message
House Bill 3972 would require the State to pay a county for lost revenue after the State's purchase of a major asset. If the Legislature creates a rule that the purchase of state property must account for local tax consequences, it will make the State less flexible and make it harder to make prudent decisions about public assets. The State should not be pigeonholed into not purchasing property it needs simply because a local tax base may change. It could also create expectations that the State must compensate counties whenever a state purchase affects local revenues, even when the acquisition serves a broader statewide purpose.

House Bill 4032 Veto Message
House Bill 4032 would raise the mineral production fees for noncoal mining operations in the state. Throughout my time as Governor, I have consistently opposed fee increases that place additional administrative costs on Oklahoma businesses and taxpayers. This veto reaffirms my commitment to lowering operational costs, reducing administrative burdens, and achieving a smaller, more accountable government.

House Bill 4266 Veto Message
HB 4266 adds 29 new license plate options to Oklahoma’s overly extensive catalogue of vanity license plates, including new license plates advertising dozens of out of state competitors to our top-tier universities here in Oklahoma. In previous vetoes of similar legislation, I have been clear that I do not support using an Oklahoma agency to be in the PR business for the universities of other states. If a person wishes to demonstrate support for an out of-state college or university, I encourage that person to purchase a license plate frame or bumper sticker to show their support.

House Bill 4294 Veto Message
This measure would require private health insurers to provide coverage for individuals diagnosed with a particular condition and pay for costly medical devices. I am concerned that this type of top-down unfunded mandate interferes with the free market and shifts the cost onto all policy holders, making it harder to keep health insurance affordable for Oklahoma families.

House Bill 4324 Veto Message
House Bill 4324 would allow district attorneys to modify a criminal sentence after conviction. A more common term for this is clemency, which is a power that constitutionally belongs to the Governor and the Pardon and Parole Board. This bill would also create serious opportunities for abuse. Allowing district attorneys to revisit and reduce final criminal sentences could invite back-room deals, political favoritism, and pressure campaigns. District attorneys and judges have important roles in the criminal justice system. The clemency process is different. It is entrusted to constitutional officers and carried out through a structure designed for that purpose. This bill would blur those lines and weaken the finality, fairness, and integrity of criminal sentencing.

House Bill 4326 Veto Message
Oklahoma's Promise was created with a simple mission: students from lower-income households who work hard and meet certain requirements should have the opportunity to earn a college education tuition-free. Over time, however, the program has been expanded again and again to carve out special eligibility categories for favored groups. This bill continues that trend by expanding eligibility contrary to the program's original intent. If every profession with an important public service role receives its own carveout, the next requests will understandably come from countless others who also sacrifice for our state. Oklahoma taxpayers deserve a program with one clear and consistent income-based standard -- not a growing checkered-board statute where eligibility depends on which group secured a special exception at the Capitol.

House Bill 4342 Veto Message
In 2024, I vetoed this exact bill, then titled Senate Bill 1557. Domestic violence will continue to be prosecuted seriously in Oklahoma. This veto does not change that. By allowing prosecutors to use prior conduct to suggest a defendant is guilty of the crime charged, however, this bill departs from the basic presumption of innocence. A person should be convicted based on proof of the specific offense alleged, not based on past accusations. The bill’s broad definition of domestic violence or abuse, including psychological, economic, and emotional abuse, could also be stretched to treat ordinary relationship conflict, harsh words, or financial disagreements as evidence of abuse. That would distract juries from the specific charge before them.

House Bill 4432 Veto Message
This bill allows up to $17,000 in gambling losses as an income tax deduction. It’s bad policy. Oklahoma should not incentivize or subsidize gambling, an activity too many families struggle to avoid. Deductions exist for charity and medical needs that build up our communities, not for casino losses. This targets relief to gamblers who don’t need it, while everyday Oklahomans wait for real, broad tax reform.

House Bill 4434 Veto Message
House Bill 4434 would impose impractical advance notice requirements on the Governor any time he is absent from the state. The advances in transportation and communication technology since 1907 ensure that the Governor is the Governor regardless of where he is. It’s unreasonable to assume that the Governor would no longer be the Governor just because he crossed state lines. Ultimately, the bill appears to rest on a misunderstanding of Article VI, Section 15 of the Oklahoma Constitution, which addresses a vacancy in the office of Governor. The Governor is the Governor from the time he is sworn in to office until the day he vacates office.

House Bill 4484 Veto Message
House Bill 4484 bill authorizes Oklahoma Corporation Commission employees to utilize state- owned vehicles for travel between their residence and field locations. This measure expands the use of state resources beyond what is necessary to accomplish the agency's mission. State government must remain a careful steward of taxpayer dollars. Oklahoma already provides a mechanism for reimbursing state employees who use their personal vehicles for official state business.

Senate Bill 0378 Veto Message
Senate Bill 0378 gives bail bondsman a uniquely favorable deal for their deposit to lending ratio. Oklahoma’s bail bondsman ratio is currently in line with, or even more favorable than, national standards. All this bill does is give a special interest group a boon without either a demonstrated need in the industry or a benefit to Oklahomans. I oppose cutting interest groups a special deal at the expense of Oklahomans.

Senate Bill 1428 Veto Message
The Department of Health already employs an individual whose position is funded by federal dollars to address the needs of the Alzheimer’s community. This bill would create a duplicative, unfunded position in the Department. The goal of this position is better met by the non-profit community. As medical needs continue to change, it is unreasonable to expect that a new, taxpayer funded position is created to solely focus on each one. The Department should focus on the health of the people of Oklahoma as a whole.

Senate Bill 1461 Veto Message
This Bill would extend the sunset for the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (“OETA”), Oklahoma’s taxpayer funded television network. Though OETA’s programming might be worthwhile for the viewer, funding a television station is not a core function of state government. I have been consistent in my position that public broadcasting should not depend on government subsidies. In 2023 I vetoed a similar measure (HB 2820), and in 2022 I vetoed sending OETA an additional $8 million in taxpayer funding (HB 1009xx). The Legislature chose to override those vetoes. Now, President Trump has adopted the same position at the federal level by ending taxpayer subsidies for National Public Radio (“NPR”) and the Public Broadcasting Service (“PBS”) on May 1, 2025. Those platforms have survived and continue to operate. President Trump has shown that ending guaranteed taxpayer subsidies for public broadcasting is not the crisis its defenders claim it to be. Oklahoma should follow his lead by letting viewers and advertisers fund OETA, not Oklahoma taxpayers.

Senate Bill 1496 Veto Message
While this bill contains several positive administrative updates to the operations of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI), I cannot approve the provision authorizing the Director to accept gifts from public or private sources. The OSBI serves as the State’s premier independent investigative agency. Its credibility, and the public’s trust in its work, depends on its impartiality, independence, and freedom from undue influence. Allowing the Director to directly solicit or accept gifts presents a significant risk to that impartiality. Those under investigation, or those with a stake in the outcome, could seek to influence the investigation through financial donations. Even where no actual impropriety occurs, the mere appearance that outside individuals or entities could provide financial support to an investigative body undermines public confidence in the fairness and objectivity of its investigations.

Senate Bill 1500 Veto Message
Senate Bill 1500 is government interference with private transactions. This bill loops discount cards and similar types of vouchers into a category with insurers and pharmacy benefit managers, which is both inaccurate and would place an unreasonable burden on those companies. Long term, this would discourage those companies from doing business in Oklahoma which would raise prices on Oklahomans. The state has no business interjecting itself into private business contracts.

Senate Bill 1589 Veto Message
Oklahoma’s gaming laws must be clear, targeted, and fair. Senate Bill 1589 does not accomplish that end. This bill is so broad that it criminalizes everyday apps people use for fun. It also unnecessarily creates a new felony and extends criminal liability to businesses and service providers. That kind of vague and overbroad approach creates uncertainty for businesses operating in good faith and discourages innovation and investment in our state. Oklahoma can protect consumers without adopting criminal penalties that reach beyond the problem they are intended to solve.

Senate Bill 1721 Veto Message
Both this bill and House Bill 3006 would have extended the life of the Oklahoma Advisory Council on Indian Education. I reiterate the objections stated in my veto of House Bill 3006. Since that veto, we have confirmed that this advisory council was routinely conducting meetings in violation of the Open Meeting Act. That confirmation turns this from a question of unnecessary government into one of basic accountability. Transparency and compliance with the law are not optional. They are the bare minimum for any state body asking to remain in existence. Continuing this advisory council under those circumstances would be irresponsible. Giving outside interest groups even more control over its appointments only makes the bill worse.

Senate Bill 1730 Veto Message
This bill would require law enforcement to submit accusations and allegations of sex-related offenses to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation for placement in a central government database, even when no arrest is made, no charge is filed, and no conviction is obtained. That departs from the basic presumption of innocence. A person should not become the subject of a permanent government record based on an accusation alone. Labeling the database confidential does not cure the problem. It only means the State would maintain those records outside public view, without the safeguards that accompany an arrest, criminal charge, or conviction.

Senate Bill 1805 Veto Message
Senate Bill 1805 ties the hands of agencies to hire temporary staff for short-term needs. Looking back to the pandemic, temporary employees helped ensure that state agencies could continue to serve Oklahomans without permanently growing government. A perceived gap in the Open Records Act should be addressed by amending that act, not creating new restrictions on agencies.

Senate Bill 2007 Veto Message
Senate Bill 2007 imposes escalating administrative fees on pharmacy benefit managers when reimbursement adjustments are made following an appeal and subsequently modified within a short timeframe. While the intent of protecting providers and ensuring fairness in the appeals process is understandable, this legislation ultimately undermines the very process it seeks to strengthen. The appeals framework exists to provide a fair and efficient mechanism for resolving reimbursement disputes. By attaching automatic financial penalties to routine adjustments, this bill risks discouraging participation in the appeals process altogether or incentivizing rigid reimbursement practices that do not reflect real-time market conditions.

Senate Bill 2074 Veto Message
Senate Bill 2074 represents a step in the wrong direction. By rewriting the formula for prescription drug reimbursement, the state is further inserting itself into the marketplace to pick winners and losers. Just as concerning, this policy functions as a hidden tax, one that will ultimately be passed on to Oklahoma families, employers, and small businesses through higher premiums and increased healthcare costs. As evidenced by the number of veto requests from major Oklahoma employers, including ONG, OneOK, American Fidelity, American Airlines, Koch Industries, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma, Hobby Lobby, the State Chamber of Commerce and the OKC Chamber of Commerce. In addition, if this legislation became law it would cost the Oklahoma Health Care Authority more than $11 million dollars. What may appear as targeted relief for one segment of the healthcare system will, in practice, increase financial pressure across the entire system. While the intent to support rural healthcare is commendable, this approach does not address the root issues. Instead, it imposes a one-size-fits-all solution to an already complex system. We need all stakeholders to come to the table and negotiate a solution that supports rural healthcare while preserving market flexibility and protecting Oklahoma families and businesses from increased costs.