Gov. Kevin Stitt says that Oklahoma’s 2024 legislative session was productive, but added he was disappointed by the Senate’s rejection of his appointees for several cabinet secretary positions and other roles.

Stitt held a news conference the day after the legislature wrapped up its business and adjourned on Thursday.

The governor’s nominations for several cabinet positions were rejected by the Senate, including Dr. Corey Finch (Secretary of Health and Mental Health), Dr. Deborah Shropshire (Secretary of Human Services), Heather Jenks (Department of Commerce director), Leigh Gaddis (Wildlife Commission), Audrey Katigan (Oklahoma Library Board), Susan Bergen (OSU/A&M Board of Regents) and Alex Gray (State Board of Education).

The unfilled positions leave six cabinet secretary positions open.

“Basically, they’re fired from their jobs,” he said.

More: Immigration, graduation and a tax cut: 10 of the biggest bills this legislative session

Passage of grocery tax cut was a high point, governor says

However, the governor said that overall, the legislative session was productive, and lawmakers were able to pass priority bills.

Cutting the state’s portion of the grocery tax was a point of celebration for Stitt, who set that as one of his goals at the beginning of his term as governor.

He listed as other priority bills include the Women’s Bill of Rights, establishing a new law that defines “sex” as the “natural person’s biological sex at birth.” Supporters of HB 1449 said it allows the state to establish distinctions between sexes when related to important government objectives like biology, privacy, safety or fairness.

However, an opponent, Rep. Trish Ranson, D-Stillwater, told the news outlet Oklahoma Voice she objects that the bill is named the “Women’s Bill of Rights” because the bill does nothing to increase her freedoms and does not give her bodily autonomy or the right to make her own health care decisions. She said it also doesn’t guarantee that women will receive equal pay for the same work as men.

More: State lawmakers override five gubernatorial vetoes as session ends

Stitt was also happy with the framework to create a future business court, which he said will help Oklahoma be the nation’s most business friendly state.

“That is going to help our economy. That’s going to help education, healthcare, infrastructure,” he said. “It’s going to help our state grow. It’s going to help wages increase.”

Stitt said the court system that resulted in a conviction of former President Donald Trump on Thursday would cause a “huge long tail” of businesses to flee New York.

“I want to make sure that our businesses know that [they’re] protected in the state of Oklahoma from out of control weaponization of district attorneys, attorney generals,” he said.

Stitt said he was satisfied with the felony reclassifications that were passed this session, and signed the bill Friday. Stitt commended Rep. Mike Osburn, R-Edmond, and Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa for the legislation.

HB 1792 categorizes all felonies into classes according to the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Reclassification Council’s recommendations, according to a House press release. The legislation sorts more than 2,000 felonies into 14 different categories based on the severity of the crime. It also aligns sentence ranges with current practices based on data from judicial sentencing orders, not actual time served. The measure sets standard sentencing ranges and minimum time served requirements for Class C and D felonies, with the severity of these sentences increasing after repeat offenses, the release said.

Stitt said he was also proud of the Choosing Childbirth Act, which clarifies that private entities like “crisis pregnancy centers” and private organizations can be reimbursed by the Department of Health for listed services such as obstetric ultrasounds, mental health and substance abuse services, among others.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: How was the Oklahoma legislative session in 2024? Productive, Stitt says