Oklahoma State Rep. Andy Fugate has taken what is essentially a constitutional question to the courts, challenging Gov. Kevin Stitt's directive that calls state workers back to their office desks and away from the makeshift home offices many have come to know, KFOR reports. According to the legislature, this return-to-office order not only places undo strain on state employees, essentially forcing them to make tough decisions around their personal lives and professional roles, but it also steps outside of the governor's legal reach, Fugate argues, planting itself firmly in the terrains of legislative authority.
Fugate's point of contention, underscored by the nine-page lawsuit he filed, states that Stitt's executive order violates the separation of powers, a principle that dictates who gets to make the laws, and who must abide by them—the details of which KOCO painstakingly outlined, and it's worth noting that the governor's actions, according to Fugate, not only oversteps his constitutional boundaries but also creates an imbalance in the power distribution that should exist between Oklahoma's branches of government.
In less fiery language, but no less important, Fugate's attorney, Richard Lebarthe, indicated they're seeking a swift resolution, telling The Oklahoman that, considering the case is purely a legal question, they are hopeful the courts will expedite a hearing. The move aims to establish the order's overreach and to secure both temporary and permanent injunctions against its enforcement—an action necessary to safeguard the legislative domain, as Fugate sees it, from gubernatorial encroachment.
While some might draw comparisons to David and Goliath, it's not about slinging stones; here, we're slinging injunctions, and the implications for state employees—who, according to Fugate, serve at the pleasure of the people of Oklahoma and not at the whim of its governor—include more than who dictates their workspace; it's about respecting the governing process, and Fugate told KOCO that "Simply put, the governor doesn't have that authority." Meanwhile, as tensions simmer in the sooner state, Gov. Stitt labels the lawsuit as "typical big government, Democrat behavior,” claiming people going to the office equates to a more accountable workforce—a statement not about emotions but the bottom line, as per his comments to The Oklahoman.
