Last minute drama broke out on Thursday as the Oklahoma Legislature working on veto overrides also decided to fire Mental Health Commissioner Allie Friesen after Governor Kevin Stitt called for voters to oust legislators who voted to override his vetoes. The day before during a news conference, Stitt said that veto overrides were part of the process.
Tulsa World’s Randy Krehbiel and Steve Metzer write that when the Senate got stuck on an override vote for three hours, Senator Paul Rosino and House Majority Floor Leader Josh West filed Concurrent Resolution 12 to remove Friesen. Stitt reacted by questioning the Legislators and Rosino’s wife, who works for the Mental Health Department part-time.
That led to some who voted against overriding the veto stuck in the Senate to switch their votes allowing for the override to proceed.
Both the Senate and the House approved CR 12, effectively firing Friesen.
The Senate adjourned late Thursday.
The House is expected to meet Friday.
You can read the Tulsa World story here.
