Corporate welfare as a governing strategy is Stitt’s way

Last Updated on August 6, 2023, 2:52 AM | Published: September 27, 2022

Gov. Kevin Stitt’s government does not work, which is why, on Monday, he made a speech calling for “inflation relief” on the steps of the Oklahoma State Capitol Building. 

Inflation has literally nothing to do with how any one governor runs their state, so Stitt deflected into the void, hoping to get his arch-conservative base foaming about inflation and not worrying about his disastrous term in office.

Since Stitt is trying to change the subject with only a few weeks to go before the election, it is useful to re-explore Stitt’s record. 

In Stitt’s barely-running dystopia, the Oklahoma government does not serve most Oklahomans. That would be too forthright and responsible for Stitt’s purposes. 

Instead, it fattens the coffers of organizations working to dismantle public education, or pharmaceutical companies selling millions of dollars’ worth of ineffective medication to the state, or barbecue restaurants winning sweetheart contracts that soak the taxpayers. 

Stitt is running a kleptocracy in Oklahoma, something one usually has to move to Eastern Europe to get off the ground. 

Just look at how Stitt came into office. 

Stitt was sworn in as governor on Jan. 14, 2019. Just five days earlier, the Oklahoma Banking Office approved his bank charter application, transforming Gateway Mortgage Group, Stitt’s subprime lending organization, into a full-fledged bank. Coincidence? Probably not, since the Banking Office agreed to not pursue future examinations of the bank’s practices, deferring to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for all future actions. 

This makes some sense — Oklahoma would not want Stitt effectively overseeing examinations of his own bank. But it begs the question: why was it so important to approve the deal to elevate Gateway Mortgage Group to become Gateway First Bank so close to its founding CEO taking office? 

Then, within days of Stitt becoming governor, the state Department of Commerce’s Quality Job Program Incentive Approval Committee approved continued funding of Gateway First Bank. In the two years prior to Stitt being elected, the former Gateway Mortgage Group received $876,962 in state funds to hire more employees. 

At the time of the approval, great pains were taken to sell this as being business as usual.

“My understanding with this is that the Governor has placed everything into a trust,” said Stitt appointee Charlie Prater, chairman of the Oklahoma Tax Commission, to Fox 25. “He’s not overseeing or running the day-to-day operations with this company. He has a CEO that does that.”

Now, telling people that Stitt “has placed everything into a trust” usually makes their eyes glaze over — that’s why former President Donald Trump emphasized the same point when he took office in 2017. 

According to Fidelity Investments, a trust involves turning over assets to a third party either permanently or for safe keeping on behalf of a beneficiary. It is a way for a company owner to avoid selling their stock or otherwise divesting themselves in the event of a conflict of interest, and it is a way to follow the letter of the law, if not the spirit. 

The bottom line? Gateway First Bank will still receive state funds to pay for additional employees. It is pretty blatant corporate welfare.

Unfortunately, that is the story of Stitt’s time in office. People get helped, but they are rarely the people who need that help most, and they are too frequently named Kevin Stitt. 

For the remainder of this election cycle, this column will be devoted to showing how Stitt kept things luxe for himself and his allies while letting the vast majority of Oklahomans fight for things they should never have to fight for, like education and basic rights.

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