OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – While several still needed a vote to override from the Senate, House lawmakers overwhelmingly agreed to override several of the governor’s vetoes, including one that would’ve extended coverage surrounding mammography screening.
While it was voted in the House as of Thursday evening, the Senate still hadn’t taken up most of the House bills for a vote to override.
Claps from lawmakers in the House followed the override vote for House Bill 1389, authored by Rep. Melissa Provenzano.
Provenzano said her idea for the bill came about after she got a call from a single mom in her district.
Veto overrides could be on the way during final week of legislative session
She said the woman went in for a routine mammogram, but when her doctor saw something concerning and recommended a second diagnostic mammogram, her insurance wouldn’t cover it.
“And it was $1,200,” Provenzano said.
The governor, earlier this month, vetoed the bill and said:
I am deeply sympathetic to the women across our state who have bravely fought breast cancer. While early detection and access to care are critical priorities, this legislation imposes new and costly insurance mandates on private health plans that will ultimately raise insurance premiums for working families and small businesses. Mammograms are already covered, and when a doctor sees the need for further tests, they are empowered to order further tests that can be covered by insurance. Without fail, when the government gets involved in markets, prices rise for everyone. Rather than expanding government mandates, we should focus on empowering individuals and encouraging innovation in the marketplace to improve access and affordability.
Governor Kevin Stitt
The other bill that had overwhelming support was House Bill 2164, which would have strengthened state bidding and purchasing laws to ensure public officials cannot use their positions of power for personal gain. It clarifies what a conflict of interest is and what requires disclosure, and the measure ensures that officials receive ethics training.
The governor announced his veto of that bill Thursday morning and said, “While I support the core goals of the bill, it would mandate ethics training for every newly elected or appointed head of a state agency, board, or commission—imposing the extreme penalty of removal from office for noncompliance. With hundreds of state agencies, boards, and commissions, this would create excessive bureaucracy with little meaningful impact.”
The Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who is running for Governor of Oklahoma, quickly came out with a statement against that veto and said:
HB 2164 could prevent future scenarios such as that of Swadley’s and the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation, when the sole bidder for a state contract landed a sweetheart deal that allegedly spurred flagrant overcharging of the state. HB 2164 would conceivably prevent a situation like what we saw several years ago at the Oklahoma Employment Securities Commission, when the employer of the agency director’s spouse won a lucrative software contract with OESC.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond
Several other votes for overriding his vetoes came throughout the day, but by late Thursday evening, the Senate had yet to finish their votes.
