Stitt vetoes funding for Missing, Murdered Indigenous Persons office on MMIP Day [Video]

OKLAHOMA CITY — On May 5, tribes across Oklahoma gathered to honor and remember Indigenous people who were murdered or are still missing.

On the same day, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt vetoed House Bill 1137, which would’ve provided state funding for the Office of Liaison for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons within the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

The bill would’ve amended the existing Ida’s Law or House Bill 3345. In its current state, it has requirements for federal funding before the office can be created, but the amendment (HB 1137), would’ve taken those requirements out.

2 News asked Governor Stitt’s office why he chose to veto the bill. While he didn’t respond to us for comment, he posted a video on his Facebook page about the bill.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. called the veto “breathtaking ignorance” of issues that tribes face and existing teamwork to resolve them.

“HB 1137, a bipartisan amendment to Ida’s law, was a housekeeping measure designed to strip an unnecessary federal funding requirement,” Hoskin …