Following through on his promise, Republican gubernatorial candidate Gary Richardson filed suit Wednesday against House Bill 1449, 2348 and 2433, which are revenue raising bills the Legislature passed during this year’s session.
“Since 1981, I have been standing as a warrior for the citizens of our state. First as a United States Attorney, appointed by President Reagan, and then in the private practice of law. I can think of no better way, at this time, to continue the fight than by challenging the constitutionality of these new taxes that are clearly in violation of Article 5, Section 33 of our State Constitution,” said Richardson.
Richardson believes all three of the laws violate the state’s constitution.
“House Bill 1449 creates the “Motor Fuel Tax Fee” which charges a fee to owners of electric and compressed natural gas vehicles in order to make up for the fact that they don’t pay the motor fuel tax; House Bill 2348 effectively raises taxes on the millions of Oklahomans who take the standard deduction when filing their tax returns by uncoupling the state deduction rate from the federal rate; and House Bill 2433 adds a new 1.25% sales tax on motor vehicle sales on top on the existing excise tax already charged on car sales. All three of these laws were enacted in violation of Article 5, Section 33 of the Oklahoma Constitution since none received 76 votes in the State House and House Bills 1449 and 2433 were enacted in the last five days of session,” Richardson explained.
The Tulsa attorney has hired Stan Ward to help him with the legal challenge. Ward is the man behind State Question 640 approved by the voters in the early 1990s to make it more difficult for lawmakers to raise taxes.
