Income Tax Cut Problematic?

Barbara Hoberock
Tulsa World

The state House and Senate appear to have a lot of work ahead as they struggle to reach an agreement on a proposed income-tax cut.

Legislative leaders and Gov. Mary Fallin spoke Wednesday during an annual forum sponsored by The Associated Press at the state Capitol.

Fallin is expected to announce the details of her income-tax cut proposal during her State of the State address Monday.

The state Supreme Court recently tossed out a measure containing a GOP-backed tax cut because it included a plan to fix the crumbling Capitol. The court said the legislation violated a constitutional restriction requiring measures to contain one subject.

The proposal would have dropped the income-tax rate to 5 percent from 5.25 percent in 2015, with additional cuts if revenue hit a certain amount.

The high court’s action came in the wake of numerous warnings prior to the tax cut’s passage that the bill was unconstitutional.

Leaders among Democrats, the minority party in both houses, have strongly opposed any reduction in the income tax, saying the majority Republicans have failed to fund education and public safety properly and take care of state employees.

House Speaker Pro Tem Mike Jackson, R-Enid, said there will be discussion about lowering the income tax to 4.85 percent.

He said he believes his caucus will support that amount.

Meanwhile, Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, said lawmakers have made a commitment to reduce taxes and need to follow through.

In the past, lawmakers have used growth revenue to cover the income reduction resulting from a tax cut, he said.

“We don’t have that growth this year, so there has to be some trigger or the revenue picture has got to change before we can enact the tax cut,” he said.

Any tax cut would have to be offset by some other revenue to cover the loss, Bingman said.

He said he is eager to sit down with leaders and determine how to address a tax cut.

“The economic conditions where they were last year certainly aren’t where they are this year,” Bingman said.

One of the challenges lawmakers will face is fulfilling commitments when the state has a shortfall, he said.

Fallin said she believes the budget picture will improve next month.

She said her budget will propose some reductions to state agencies.

Senate Minority Leader Sean Burrage, D-Claremore, said he is concerned about tax cuts, which he called “fiscally irresponsible,” especially in light of the state’s having $170 million less to spend in creating the fiscal year 2015 budget.

“Tell me where you are going to cut,” he said.

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Scott Inman, D-Del City, accused GOP leaders of sorely mismanaging and underfunding core government services, such as education, public safety and health care.


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  1. Steve Dickson, 30 January, 2014

    Quit cutting around the edges. Get rid of an entire department – say, Tourism. Or Commerce.

    How about cut half the supervisors within DHS, give the front line workers a raise equal to half the amount saved and apply the rest to tax reduction.

    Same for State Department of Education.

    Same for Corrections.

    Same for Health Department.

    CUT CUT CUT CUT.

    Limited Government, Maximum Liberty!

    Happy election year….

  2. Castor, 31 January, 2014

    It is no accident that past tax cuts have been followed by increases in economic activity and, consequent, increases in state revenues. The static economic model the Democrats point to is misleading and obsolete.

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