Democrat legislator goes after Gov. Stitt over ‘no authority’

 

State Rep. Mickey Dollens, D-OKC, released the following statement in response to Gov. Kevin Stitt’s claim to media outlets that the governor had no authority over the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.

“In less than a month, the governor has gone from ‘give me another week’ to fix Oklahoma’s unemployment system to ‘the governor has no authority,'” Dollens said. “This type of leadership does little to help Oklahomans and falls short of the job Oklahomans elected us to do.

“Last year, the Legislature gave the governor unprecedented powers over government agencies. This session, media outlets dubbed him ‘the most powerful governor in state history.’ Now, while people suffer, his answer is ‘the governor has no authority?’

“The governor’s comments are a great example of what I have said for the past month. The governor and his administration paint a pretty picture during press conferences and press releases, but it isn’t based in reality, where thousands of Oklahomans are currently struggling to financially survive. The Legislature allocated $50 million to the governor to use to fight COVID-related problems. Perhaps the governor should have put some of those tax dollars into the obviously broken unemployment system instead of stocking up on arthritis medicine and scapegoating responsibility.”

Source: State House