Gov. Kevin Stitt discusses sports betting, recreational marijuana
Gov. Kevin Stitt would fire the executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs, if he had the power to do so.
Stitt shared that opinion during his first weekly press briefing of the 2023 legislative session on Friday when asked about the turmoil surrounding the director and the Oklahoma Veterans Commission that oversees the agency.
Veterans Affairs Department Executive Director Joel Kintsel does not recognize the legitimacy of the commission and has refused to attend recent meetings to discuss cost overruns on the construction of the Sallisaw Veterans Center.
"If they gave me the authority, I would fire the guy tomorrow because he's got $21 million that he's lost in the Sallisaw deal," Stitt told reporters. "I've told the Legislature this is just a nightmare. We're gonna have to fix this because this guy's not reporting to anybody."
Kintsel has indicated he wants to sue a contractor for the $21 million, but the agency still needs to find the money soon to finish construction. His opposition to commission oversight stems from a disagreement over whether Stitt lawfully appointed its members.
The Stitt-appointed chair of the Oklahoma Veterans Commission, Robert Allen, said this week that Kintsel's behavior would be called "mutiny" in the military and that it was likely the commission would eventually fire him.
Stitt: Feds should determine if recreational marijuana is legal
Stitt also discussed his opposition to the upcoming vote on recreational marijuana. State Question 820 will be on a statewide ballot March 7.
The governor highlighted the fact that on the federal level, marijuana is still an illegal drug.
"The big reason for me is, Number One, it's illegal federally. There shouldn't be a patchwork of states doing different things. We need to let the feds tell us if it's legal or illegal, we shouldn't let the states tell us that," he said. "And then secondly, we already have medical to meet the medical needs of Oklahomans that need this as a drug."
If voters approve the state question, anyone in the state would be allowed to buy marijuana from a dispensary without a medical marijuana card. Those purchases would be taxed at a higher rate.
Continued support for school choice
The governor reiterated his support for school choice, but declined to comment on which legislative plan he sides with. During his state of the state speech last week, Stitt told lawmakers he wants education savings accounts, sometimes described as vouchers, to be available for parents who send their children to private school.
On Thursday, Speaker of the House Charles McCall introduced a competing proposal that would give parents a $5,000 tax credit for each student who attends a private school. The tax credit is refundable, meaning that if a taxpayer owes less than that amount on their Oklahoma tax forms, the state will refund the difference.
Stitt told reporters he wants more choices for parents, more schools, a teacher pay raise and wants to encourage more people to leave the private sector to become teachers.
"Those are the big-picture items, and the devils are in the details on how we work that out. But the good news is we have tremendous buy-in from the Republican Party that we want to prioritize education," Stitt said. "We want every kid to have access to the best education possible regardless of their economic status, their ZIP code, or where they live in the state of Oklahoma."
Stitt says he's meeting with Oklahoma tribes to discuss sports betting
There hasn't been a lot of discussion about how Oklahoma would legalize sports betting, Stitt said, but he's reached out to the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball organization and met with "a couple of" tribes about the issue and has plans to meet with more.
Tribal nations have exclusive gaming rights in Oklahoma and, in exchange, pay the state a share of proceeds every month. A bill to allow tribal sportsbooks cleared its first hurdle recently when it was approved by a House subcommittee. House Bill 1027 would allow tribes to add on sports betting to those existing state gaming compacts. Tribes could offer in-person or online sports betting, or both. While the idea has broad support, the fine print does not.
"I'm just trying to set the big vision and say, here's what I'm looking for. Let's go make this happen. Let's make sure we learn from these other 40 states or 25, or however many already have the sportsbook," Stitt said. "And let's roll out Oklahoma's similar, to maximize the profit or maximize the income for our education system, or for our economic development or wherever we're going to designate those funds that come into the state."
