Tax cuts for some, tax hikes for others

Will Oklahoma families pay higher or lower taxes under HB 3061, the tax plan agreed to last week by Governor Fallin and legislative leaders? The answer depends on a number of variables, including household income, family size, and whether or… Read more [More...]

STATEMENT: Budget leaves Oklahoma further behind

Oklahoma Policy Institute released the following statement in response to the state budget deal announced today: According to today’s budget agreement, appropriations for core services remain flat even though expenses continue to rise. That means we will fall further behind… Read more [More...]

Flawed trigger proposal language could create serious unintended problems

In addition to an immediate cut in the top income tax rate from 5.25 to 4.8 percent,  the tax plan agreed to last week by Governor Fallin and legislative leaders includes an automatic future tax cut tied tied to revenue… Read more [More...]

Tax cut proposal Q & A

NOTE: This post has been updated as new information becomes available Yesterday, the Governor and legislative leaders announced agreement on a ‘joint proposal for income tax reduction and tax code simplification’. (Click here for a summary and here for HB… Read more [More...]

Claims for Oklahoma tax cut not OK

This post was written by Nick Johnson, Vice President for State Fiscal Policy with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. This originally appeared on the Center’s Off the Charts blog and is reposted with permission. Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal… Read more [More...]

Business leaders urge rejection of tax triggers

As reported in CapitolBeatOK, a group of 30 prominent business executives, civic leaders and philanthropists recently sent an open letter to the Governor, Speaker and Senate Pro Tem urging them not to adopt a trigger mechanism that would lead to… Read more [More...]

Politicians make bad fortune-tellers

A key question in the income tax debate has been whether tax cut supporters were taking a “responsible” approach in their proposals. They have worked hard to convince Oklahomans that we can afford tax cuts without disrupting core services. Revenue… Read more [More...]

New poll shows Oklahomans oppose income tax cut proposals

A poll released today by the Oklahoma Advocacy Project reveals strong opposition among Oklahomans to proposals for reducing and eliminating the state income tax. The poll finds that large majorities oppose a tax cut if it means less funding for… Read more [More...]

Why raise taxes on working families?

Lost amid much of the tax cut discussion has been the fact that proposals coming out of the legislature would actually increase taxes on hundreds of thousands of low- and moderate-income families. That’s because they could lose a host of… Read more [More...]

Poll dancing: Advocates exaggerate public support for tax cuts

Supporters of income tax cuts have been touting a recent poll that purports to show strong support for tax cuts in Oklahoma.  A telephone survey of 500 registered voters were asked four questions about tax cuts, tax credits, and the… Read more [More...]