Gov. Kevin Stitt doubled down on his aversion to the Rural Broadband Expansion Council on Friday by issuing a veto on Oklahoma House Bill 2090. The measure, authored by House Speaker Charles McCall and Sen. James Leewright, called for an increase in the council’s membership, modified qualifications and added six new definitions including the term “broadband.”
As passed overwhelmingly by the state House and Senate, HB 2090 added two new members including representation by a wireless internet service provider and a Native American tribe.
In his veto message, Gov. Stitt stated the council was “unnecessary and redundant” due to an existing broadband task force created by Secretary of Digital Transformation David Ostrowe.
“Digital transformation has been and remains a top priority for my Administration,” said Gov. Stitt, in his veto message. “Shortly after taking office, this Administration created a broadband task force and brought together key stakeholders to focus on improving broadband in our state. As a result, our state’s broadband service has improved from 47th to 25th in the nation during my time in office. We brought together key players in this arena and the Administration’s task force yielded great results. This legislation does nothing to improve a duplicative task force,” said Gov. Stitt.