OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) – Oklahoma State Rep. Andy Fugate filed a lawsuit in opposition to Gov. Kevin Stitt’s executive order to end the work-from-home option within state agencies.
“I have grown increasingly concerned at the scope and breadth of the Governor’s executive orders and the ways they supersede legislative authority,” Fugate, D-Del City, said. “It is not his job to make laws. That is the job of the legislature.”
Stitt issued Executive Order 2024-29 on Dec. 18, requiring state agencies to return full-time employees to in-office work environments by Feb. 1, 2025.
Full-time state employees were allowed to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in early 2020.
Stitt said the remote option needs to end to ensure efficient government operations and accountability and because the pandemic no longer necessitates remote work.
“COVID altered the way we did business for a time, but that time has passed. Now, we need to put stewardship of taxpayer dollars as our top priority,” Stitt said. “Oklahomans deserve a government that operates with full accountability and delivers services effectively. Returning to traditional work environments is a critical step in achieving that goal.”
Executive Order 2024-29 contains the following three key provisions:
- Return to Office Deadline: All full-time state employees are required to perform their duties in their assigned office, facility, or field location by February 1, 2025.
- Limited Exceptions: Agency executives may approve exceptions for: Employees with non-standard work hours (e.g., evenings, weekends, holidays), roles where in-office employment is deemed unreasonable, and agencies facing office space constraints that would require additional expenditures to accommodate employees.
- Transparency and Accountability: Agencies utilizing exceptions must report details to the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES), including employee job descriptions and anticipated return dates. Quarterly reports on remote or hybrid workforce composition will be submitted to OMES starting March 31, 2025.
Fugate said he took legal action against Stitt’s executive order because it “violates the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches.”
“The governor doesn’t have the authority to issue this order. State employees work for the people of Oklahoma, not the governor. Creating new employment conditions and authorizing money for facilities and office equipment is the legislature’s job, not the governor’s,” Fugate said.
Fugate alleged that Stitt’s order created chaos for state employees. He said many of those employees rely on remote work.
“The value of remote work to employees means they can choose rural Oklahoma life without wasting gas and sacrificing time with their families. It gives employees more time to be present with their families and active in their communities. It means better, safer working conditions for employees with fragile health,” Fugate said.
Fugate described Stitt’s executive order as executive overreach that threatens the separation of powers.
Attorney Richard Labarthe is representing Fugate.
“We are happy to represent Rep. Fugate in this effort to determine that Gov. Stitt’s executive order compelling all state employees to work in person was an impermissible trespass upon the lawmaking power that, by our State Constitution, resides exclusively with the legislature,” Labarthe said. “It is an important, and apparently necessary, action to preserve the separation of powers established by our state’s founding document. And further, it allows for transparency and public discourse of an important public policy issue, through the legislative process, as opposed to a sudden, unilateral decree by the State’s Chief Executive.”
