OKPOLICY.ORG
This column originally appeared in The Journal Record on April 23, 2025
Imagine you’re saving money in case your roof starts leaking during a storm. One day, instead of fixing the roof, you decide to hand that money to someone who already has a sturdy umbrella – and then tell your neighbors to hope the rain holds off.
As irresponsible as that scenario sounds, that’s what happens when the governor and some lawmakers propose to use the state’s rainy day funds to pay for costly tax cuts, especially when those cuts mostly benefit the wealthy. And rumblings around the Capitol suggest that the governor is pushing to use one-time savings to pay for recurring revenue lost through tax cuts.
Rainy day funds exist for a reason. They’re meant to protect essential state services during tough economic times. They help ensure that every Oklahoman can count on the state to follow through on its promises to keep our schools open, our emergency services running, and our infrastructure intact. They’re a shield against hard times.
But using those funds to hand out tax breaks? That’s not a shield – it’s a giveaway. And it puts everyday people at risk.
The proposal currently being pushed by the governor would give almost $6,000 a year back to the wealthiest Oklahomans, while the middle- and low-income families who most need tax relief might get back $15 to $71 for the year.
Let’s be honest: the politicians pushing for these tax cuts usually aren’t worried about the next storm. Our richest neighbors already have umbrellas. They have savings accounts, investments, and connections. Meanwhile, working families are the ones who struggle to find shelter when hard times hit. If we start draining the rainy day funds now, it won’t be the wealthy who suffer later – it’ll be the rest of us who get soaked.
History backs this up. States that drained their reserves to fund tax cuts in good years often faced deep cuts to education, health care, public safety, and infrastructure when the economy turned. Those cuts don’t just hurt today – they hurt our future.
We all want a strong economy and fair taxes. But that doesn’t mean shortchanging essential services or putting people’s lives at risk. Rainy day funds should be used to protect people from the storm, not to reward those who are already dry.
Lawmakers need to remember who these funds are really for, as well as who gets left out in the rain when they’re misused.
