OKPOLICY.ORG
Statement from OK Policy Executive Director Shiloh Kantz about the governor’s comments accusing the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of leading the charge to block Senate Bill 675, which would have granted the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority access to law enforcement records to extract vehicle tag data from sovereign Tribal Nations without consent.
As the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Policy Institute and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, I wish to clarify the inaccuracies in Gov. Stitt’s recent remarks about the defeat of Senate Bill 675.
The governor has falsely and unfairly accused the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of leading the charge to block SB 675, a measure that would have allowed the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA) to extract vehicle tag data from sovereign Tribal Nations without consent. The Oklahoma Policy Institute and our inter-Tribal partners helped lead opposition to this bill because we recognized it for what it was: a dangerous attempt to undermine Tribal sovereignty and weaponize the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (OLETS) to do so. Hundreds of Oklahomans reached out to lawmakers to speak out against this bill. These advocates included non-Tribal citizens along with Tribal citizens from multiple Tribes across the state.
The legislature has a legal duty to engage with the governor on the development of any laws, particularly those that impact Tribes in Oklahoma. Further, this bill raises significant issues about the legality of sharing law enforcement records with non-law enforcement personnel.
Our state has a legal and moral obligation to engage with Tribal Nations as equal, sovereign governments. Instead, SB 675 would have allowed state agencies to sidestep compacting processes and forcibly seize data belonging to Tribal jurisdictions-data they own and have the right to protect. This is not just a matter of data, but a fundamental issue of Tribal sovereignty, a cornerstone of our nation’s history and identity.
Gov. Stitt’s comments are not only misleading, but they also reinforce a pattern of antagonism toward Tribal governments. Rather than working collaboratively through government-to-government partnerships, he has chosen to scapegoat Tribes for asserting their legal rights. The governor’s words are deeply concerning and serve only to distract from the state’s failure to plan for the PlatePay system in a way that respects Oklahoma’s intergovernmental landscape.
We stand by our position and our work to halt SB 675. And we stand with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and all Tribal Nations in Oklahoma in defending their sovereignty against this latest attempt to erode it.
For further comment or media inquiries, please contact:
David Hamby – Communications Director, Oklahoma Policy Institute | 918-810-0182 (text/call) or dhamby@okpolicy.org
Vivian Morris – Tribal-State Policy Analyst, Oklahoma Policy Institute | vmorris@okpolicy.org
