Elections

Treat was first elected to his seat in a 2011 special election to replace Todd Lamb, who left his seat to become Oklahoma's lieutenant governor. He defeated four other candidates in the Republican primary and did not face a Democratic opponent. He was reelected in 2012 without opposition and defeated Democrat Judy Mullen Hopper in 2016 with 66.35% of the vote.^[3]

Legislation

In 2019, Treat authored a bill to create the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency,^[4] an entity to increase transparency and accountability in state government by providing the public and lawmakers independent, objective data on state spending and program performance. Treat also authored several landmark government accountability] measures that give the governor the ability to hire and fire the director of five of the largest state agencies.^[5] Treat authored Senate Bill 1848 in 2014, which required abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles (48 km) of their practice. The law was struck down by the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 2016, with the court citing Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt as a precedent.^[6][7]

In June 2023, Treat criticized senators who did not show up for a tribal compact vote to override Governor Kevin Stitt's previous veto.^[8] The next month, he called the Governor "ineffective" and said they were one vote shy of overriding.^[9] When the override vote was called again, they were able to get enough votes, but Stitt called it an "illegitimate process."^[10]

In 2023 after a special session, Treat "claimed senators chose to block action on the issue because Gov. Kevin Stitt, who called the special session on taxation, had not handed senators a specific legislation-ready plan," even though the governor "has no direct role in the legislative budget process."^[11]

Controversies

Treat accepted money from a private pro-cockfighting lobbyist group with misleading name, the so-called "Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission" political action committee.^[12]

In April 2023, a "week before the deadline for bills to be heard in the opposite chamber's committees," Treat and the Speaker of the House, Charles McCall, were said to "continue to throw jabs at each other's education plans," leading parents and educators to be concerned there wouldn't be a solution that session.^[13] As the session neared its end, both McCall and Treat still had not come to an agreement.^[14] It was reported that the "two sides didn't even agree on how much they had been talking about education."^[15] McCall reportedly thought the talks were going well, while Treat said he didn't feel "very hopeful."^[16]

For school vouchers in a bill introduced in 2023, Treat acknowledged that "private schools wouldn’t be forced to admit all students, but he believes schools would expand enrollment when more families can afford it." Democrats have had concerns that "there are no assurances that low-income students would be admitted into a private school." Treat has also accused House Speaker Charles McCall of "refusing to negotiate and said the Senate’s income cap was a “more responsible” school choice plan."^[17]

In June 2023, after severe storms hit parts of Oklahoma that involved hurricane-force winds and tornadic activity that knocked out power for days for more than 350,000 energy customers during severe heat waves,^[18] Treat was informed he was the acting Governor who could declare a state of emergency, which he did days after the event. He was not informed ahead of time he was acting Governor, when Stitt was in Paris and the Lieutenant Governor, Matt Pinnell, was also out of state. Stitt had not responded to Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum's calls.^{[19][20][21][22]}