Governor Stitt Issues Executive Order on Public Relations Contracts

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Shortly after vetoing part of a bill that would have blocked State Superintendent Ryan Walters from using taxpayer dollars for promotional purposes, Gov. Kevin Stitt issued an executive order banning no-bid contracts between government agencies and public relations firms.

Stitt says he issued this order in an effort to minimize unnecessary spending of taxpayer dollars by state agencies that hire outside of public relations firms.

“We all need to remember that the money we spend doesn’t belong to us – it belongs to Oklahoma taxpayers,” Stitt said. “Oklahomans expect my administration to steward every tax dollar well, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. It makes no sense for state agencies that pay communications staff salaries to subcontract the work to public relations firms through sole-source contracts. It’s wasteful and we’re stopping it statewide.

The executive order states that all agencies must adhere to the competitive bidding process through a request for proposal (RFP) process of at least 30 days for all contracts with public relations firms.

In addition to prohibiting new no-bid or sole-source contracts, the order also restricts agencies’ right to renew prior sole-source contracts with vendors.

The order also states that state agencies, directors of state agencies, or state employees are not permitted to use taxpayer dollars to fund their own self-promotion or the promotion of any other matter outside the scope of their respective state agency.

Read the full decree here.