State Lawmakers Greenlight $10 Million For Legal Fight Against Tribes

Oklahoma lawmakers approved pumping $10 million into the state's legal fight against tribal governments at the governor's request.

While the money was requested by Gov. Kevin Stitt, he'll have to go through a legislative committee to access it for outside legal fees. During debate on HB 2951, Democratic lawmakers argued it's the job of the attorney general to pick the state's legal fights not a group of lawmakers.

“Why would we take those duties away and give them to a committee?” Senate Minority Leader Kay Floyd, D-OKC said.

Under the bill, the Joint Committee on Tribal Relations will be charged with making recommendations to hire outside council on "cases and controversies" between the tribes and the state. Previously, the committee had only been tasked with overseeing and approving agreements between tribal governments and the state.

“Why would a tribal nation work with a body to reach an agreement knowing that the same body has a pot of money to sue them?” Sen. Mary Boren, D-Norman, said.

“This committee does not have to be adversarial; I pray that it will not be, but this committee keeps someone from making a unilateral decision on how the money is going to be spent to move forward,” Senate Appropriation and Budget Chairman Roger Thompson, R-Okemah, said.

All outside legal contracts and payments could have to run through the committee.

“It does not mean that were taking a mediating body and turning it into an adversarial, that we’re going to sue you at a drop of the hat,” Thompson said. “But we do live in a system that says we need to definitive action and definitive action can only come from the court.”

“It makes no sense,” Floyd said. “The issues concerning the tribes have been dealt with through the attorney general‘s office for years. They have the staff to have the expertise they have the ability to hire if they need to.”

Attorney General Mike Hunter’s office declined to comment on the bill.

Across the rotunda during debate in the House, a lawmaker asked if $10 million would be enough to fight the state's tribal battles. House budget chairman Kevin Wallace said, “only time will tell.”

The bill is now on the governor's desk.