Deevers files bills to end income tax, feral hog hunting hurdles, and EPA diesel regulations

State Sen. Dusty Deevers has filed a bundle of new bills that are well worth consideration by the Oklahoma Legislature:

Deevers Introduces Tax Cut Elimination Bills, Other Tax Cuts

OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan 15th) — Sen. Dusty Deevers, R-Elgin, has introduced a slate of legislation to reduce the tax burden on Oklahomans, including the following.

• SB305 to immediately eliminate the State individual income tax.
• SB322 to immediately eliminate the State corporate income tax.
• SB308 to gradually reduce the income tax by 1 percent per year until eliminated by 2029.
• SB323 to gradually reduce the State corporate income tax by 1 percent per year until eliminated in 2028.
• SB311 to reduce the gross production tax on the oil and gas industry from 7 percent to 5 percent.
• Various tax credits for Oklahoma families and family-oriented initiatives, including SB228, SB281, and SB328.

Fallin places 'Vision Fund' question on November ballot

Governor Mary Fallin Places Vision Fund Question on November Ballot

It joins four other measures that voters will be asked to consider

OKLAHOMA CITY – Governor Mary Fallin today signed an executive proclamation placing on the Nov. 6 general election ballot a measure that would create the Oklahoma Vision Fund to support the operation of state government.

State Question (SQ) 800, if approved by a majority of voters, would consist of annual deposits of at least 5 percent of the total collections of the gross production tax.

No more than 5 percent of the Vision Fund could be used for service payments due on bonds or other financing instruments. Four percent of the average annual principal balance of the endowment fund could be transferred to the General Revenue Fund each year.

Lawmakers this year approved Senate Joint Resolution 35, which supporters said would better prepare for the cyclical nature of Oklahoma’s energy economy and would help keep core services funded in downturns.

The deadline for the governor to sign paperwork for state questions to be placed on the Nov. 6 general election ballot is Aug. 27.

Fallin earlier placed three other referendums approved by legislators on the ballot, and signed paperwork authorizing one initiative petition measure to be on the November ballot.

• SQ 793 (initiative petition) would amend the state constitution by allowing optometrists or opticians to practice in retail establishments, and would allow the Legislature to regulate them.
• SQ 794 (legislative referendum) would provide certain rights for crime victims, such as expanding the court proceedings at which victims have the right to be heard and being notified of the defendant’s release or escape from custody.
• SQ 798 (legislative referendum) would establish a joint ticket for the top two statewide offices, like candidates for U.S. president and vice-president. If voters approve the question on the Nov. 6 general election, it wouldn't take effect until 2026.
• SQ 801 (legislative referendum) would give local school boards the flexibility and options to use existing property tax funds for use in the classroom, such as teacher pay and textbooks, without raising taxes.

The deadline for the governor to sign paperwork for state questions to be placed on the Nov. 6 general election ballot is Aug. 27.

Fallin signs teacher pay raise, tax hike package

Governor Mary Fallin Signs Revenue Package to Fund Largest Teacher Pay Raise in State History

OKLAHOMA CITY – Governor Mary Fallin, flanked by bipartisan legislators and joined by public school teachers, today signed three bills that are part of an historic revenue package to fund pay raises for teachers.

The package allows for a $6,100, or 16 percent, pay raise on average for Oklahoma teachers.

 “This is a very historic day in Oklahoma,” said Fallin. “By signing these measures, Oklahoma will move to second-highest in the region, up from the lowest, in average teacher pay. It is the largest teacher pay raise in the history of the state.

“I want to thank our legislative leaders from both parties for their tremendously hard work on these measures,” Fallin said.”I appreciate their long hours, and I commend the brave men and women in the House and Senate for their courageous action in voting for these bills. The legislation will fund teacher pay raises as well as provide additional money for the classroom, and set our state on a path of long-term budget stability by making more recurring revenue available and help stop the practice of balancing our budget with one-time funds. Teachers can expect to see a significant raise in their paychecks this fall.”

The governor signed:

• House Bill (HB) 1011XX, which puts a $17,000 cap on deductions on adjusted gross income. Charitable contributions and medical expenses are not capped.
• HB 1023XX, which establishes a new teacher salary schedule, the largest teacher pay increase in state history. Teachers will receive a $6,100 pay raise on average in the upcoming school year.
• HB 1010XX, which provides the revenue to fund the teacher pay raise. This is accomplished by an increase of $1 per pack of cigarettes; taxing little cigars at the same rate as cigarettes; raising the fuel tax by 3 cents a gallon on gasoline and 6 cents a gallon on diesel; and raising the gross production tax from 2 percent to 5 percent on all wells.

Senate passes $530M tax hike to fund teacher pay raises

Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Schulz was joined by Gov. Mary Fallin, Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Sen. Kim David, Senate Majority Floor Leader Greg Treat and Senate Appropriations Vice Chair Eddie Fields Wednesday evening following the Senate's approval of a teacher pay raise package.

Senate passes revenue package to fund teacher pay raises

OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma Senate on Wednesday passed a historic revenue package to fund a $6,100, or 16 percent, pay raise on average for Oklahoma teachers. That increase moves Oklahoma from seventh to second highest in the region in average teacher pay and is the largest teacher pay raise in the history of the state.

“The Oklahoma Senate took a historic step that will have positive and long-lasting impacts on the success of our state. One of the most important factors in the success of our students is a quality, professional teacher in the classroom. Passing the largest teacher pay raise in state history moves us to No. 2 in the region in average teacher pay and will help Oklahoma retain quality teachers. It’s a significant investment in economic development because an educated workforce is essential to growing and expanding our economy. For more than 15 months, the Senate has worked tirelessly to fund a significant teacher pay raise. This is a responsible plan that answers Oklahomans’ call for the Legislature to find a solution to teacher pay. I want to thank my colleagues in the Senate for their dedication to finding a solution and seeing a teacher pay raise come to fruition,” said Senate Pro Tem Mike Schulz, R-Altus.

HB 1010xx provides $447 million in revenue by increasing the gross production to 5 percent on all wells, increasing the cigarette tax $1 per pack, and increasing the gas tax 3 cents and the diesel tax 6 cents. 

The Senate also advanced HB 1011xx, which provides an additional $84.3 million for teacher pay by making changes to the state income tax code.

Education, State Employee Unions push $900M tax increase

Proposed $900M tax hike plan

Three education and state employee unions have proposed a massive $900M tax increase to go toward their $3.3 billion increased spending plan. Below is their press release, with details of their tax hikes in the image above:

Organizations Outline $906 Million in Funding Sources to Fund Education and Provide Raises for State Employees

School Closures Still a Real Possibility If Legislature Doesn’t Act Soon

OKLAHOMA CITY ­­– The Oklahoma Education Association, the Oklahoma City American Federation of Teachers and the Oklahoma Public Employees Association today outlined a number of funding sources the Oklahoma Legislature could tap to fund education and avoid a state-wide school shutdown.

The plan, as outlined by OEA Executive Director David DuVall during a press conference, identifies $905.7 million in recurring revenue.

“When we announced the possibility of closing schools earlier this month we intentionally left out a specific plan because we thought the legislature knew where to find money to properly fund our schools,” DuVall said. “While we appreciate the efforts to find some answers, they have all fallen woefully short.

“What we are offering today is a road map to sustainable funding for our state.”

OEA’s funding suggestions include:

• $158.7 million through a 5 percent gross production tax
• $222.9 million in tobacco taxes
• $149.1 million in motor fuel taxes
• $177 million in income tax reform, restoration of the earned income tax credit and elimination the capital gains deduction.

Other revenue sources include taxes on alcohol, car tags, ball and dice games at Native American casinos, a hotel/motel tax, sales tax reform and a tax on wind generation.

If the legislature were to use all of the proposed revenue sources, it would find more than enough money to provide teachers with a $6,000 raise for the 2018-19 school year, a $2,500 raise for education support professionals (e.g. custodians, food service workers, secretaries, transportation workers, etc.) next year, general revenue for schools to reduce class sizes and purchase classroom materials, a raise for state employees and money to fund health care services that have been cut in recent months.

“Our students are the real victims of the legislature’s failure to properly fund education and our state core government services,” said OEA President Alicia Priest.  “Our class sizes have ballooned to impossible numbers. Our schools can’t buy text books for every child. We’ve dropped not only fine arts and foreign language courses, we’ve also dropped advanced placement classes.”

The OEA was joined at the press conference by OPEA Communications Director Tom Dunning and Oklahoma City AFT President Ed Allen.

Allen said the teacher shortage has been caused by low salaries.

“The last thing educators want to do is walk out of school on April 2. But believe me, that is exactly what will happen if they don’t see a substantial and adequate pay increase,” Allen said “Teachers have been leaving the school district on a regular basis because of the miserable salaries. There was a 25 percent turnover in Oklahoma City in 2017 and it’s mostly because of the low wages. We need to keep and attract great teachers and a good start is to pay them a livable wage.”

Dunning pointed out that state employees are need of a pay increase, too.

“State employees, whose pay is more than 20 percent below market, stand with public educators to insist Oklahoma’s leaders pass a significant pay raise plan and begin to restore funding because they are fed up with excuses for why they can’t have a pay raise,” said Tom Dunning. “While they continue to serve, despite lack of support from many state leaders, employees expect lawmakers to fund a substantial pay raise plan and restore state agency funding. If lawmakers don’t act, state employees and those they serve will have many questions as they go to the polls this fall.”

Priest said the association is moving forward with closing all Oklahoma schools if the legislature can’t find a way to fund education by April 1. As of the press conference, more than 125 school boards had passed resolutions supporting teachers who walk out.

“The legislature has the ability to keep us in the classroom on April 2,” she said. “There is time in the next week to pass these measures and invest in our children.”

House Dems respond to newest budget cuts

House Democrats Respond to Newest Round of Budget Cuts

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Steve Kouplen, on behalf of the Oklahoma House Democratic Caucus, has released the following statement on the $44 million worth of budget cuts passed on the House floor Monday:

“It is unconscionable that the Republican leadership in the House has led the state to the point where further cuts to the current year budget are inevitable. Today, the House sent $44 million worth of cuts to be approved by the Senate. We firmly believe that there are still options on the table to bring in a small portion of revenue for this year and put the state on a better path forward beginning the next fiscal year.

The House Democratic Caucus stands ready to commit all 28 of our votes to a bipartisan revenue package that includes the Republican Party’s cigarette and motor fuel taxes -- along with our original request to increase the incentive gross production tax to 5 percent that has now garnered support from State Auditor Gary Jones and the Oklahoma Council on Public Affairs. This package, coupled with the Senate passing the itemized deduction cap from 2017, would allow us to close the upcoming budget hole and provide teachers and state employees with a raise. With 100 percent of our caucus supporting, we would only need 48 Republicans, or 66 percent of the caucus, to pass this plan.

As we have mentioned in the past, it seems that the Republican Caucus is more worried about political cover while cutting agencies than actually finding a solution. Otherwise, we would be voting on revenue packages regularly until we find a combination that works.

Our fear is that as the race for the next Speaker of the House continues to heat up, we will continue to see fewer options for revenue and more of the same fiscal policy that has plagued this state for the last decade. Nevertheless, the House Democratic Caucus stands ready to negotiate at any time to prevent budget cuts and provide the revenue necessary for a teacher and state employee pay raise.”

OCPA column: A Better Plan

A Better Plan

by OCPA President Jonathan Small

It’s easy for insiders to support tax increases–much easier than it is for low- and middle-income families and small businesses to pay higher taxes.

That’s why the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs has offered a revenue and reform plan. Our plan even received the endorsement of former U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn.

What’s missing from our plan? A messy income tax hike on those who can’t afford it. Included is the same $5,000 teacher pay raise that big government advocates keep using for their bait-and-switch games. It’s time to give teachers the pay raises they deserve and stop the rest of the bureaucracy from using teachers as pawns while state agencies refuse to reform.

“It’s time for the circus to end,” Sen. Coburn said, noting that “teachers, the most vulnerable, working Oklahomans, and small businesses are being held captive and will suffer damaging tax increases that will harm families and ruin future efforts for pro-growth tax reform.”

Our alternative plan would set gross production taxes to 5 percent on new wells for 36 months. It would increase cigarette taxes by 75 cents a pack. Wind tax credits would be capped at $10 million. Voters would be asked to approve shifting new settlement payments from the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust to the state’s Medicaid program, surely a worthy way to spend money earmarked for health. And, the Indian tribes would be asked to forgo $67 million in rebates on tobacco sales since they are also citizens of Oklahoma.

Those measures would pump $505.4 million into the state treasury to fund a $5,000 teacher pay raise. They wouldn’t make the tax code more complex or make revenue promises that are unlikely to materialize. And, they avoid burdening most families and working Oklahomans with more taxes.

If lawmakers are dead set on raising taxes, at least they should do it in the least damaging way. The more challenging but vital work remains: reforming and restructuring state government to prevent this annual exercise in panic budgeting from ever happening again.

We could start with rigorous audits of every state agency, questioning outcomes rather than just accounting for inputs, and by passing some real reforms like work requirements for able-bodied Medicaid recipients and allowing schools to use local revenues for top priorities like teacher pay. We should also end Oklahoma's Hollywood film handout that paid millions to Harvey Weinstein.

As Sen. Coburn said, “It’s time for politicians to do their number one job, which is tough and accountable oversight.”

Jonathan Small serves as president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs.

OCPA offers ‘a plan that can pass’

OCPA offers ‘a plan that can pass’

OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 12, 2018) — On Monday, the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) offered a revenue plan in hopes of breaking the tax-and-budget impasse at the state Capitol.

“Oklahomans want to see teachers receive a $5,000 pay raise, but they know this can be done without unnecessarily heavy tax increases on working families and small businesses,” OCPA chairman Larry Parman said.

“Many people have asked OCPA for, in their words, ‘a plan that can pass,’ something that doesn’t raise taxes on working families, something simple that doesn’t require lawmakers to go through much gnashing of teeth from state government bureaucrats and tax consumers, but that still funds a $5,000 teacher pay raise and prevents nursing homes and other critical services from going under.”

OCPA’s “plan that can pass” includes:

• A gross production tax increase to 5 percent for existing wells taxed at 2 percent and for all future wells for 36 months, and 7 percent thereafter—$199.5 million in new annual revenue
• A $0.75 per pack cigarette tax increase—$121.9 million in new annual revenue
• A cap of $10 million on the zero-emission tax credit for wind—$60 million in new annual available revenue
• Send to Oklahoma voters a ballot measure dedicating all new tobacco settlement payments that currently go to the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) to the state’s Medicaid budget—$57 million in new annual revenue
• Tribes in Oklahoma step up and decline to accept any future rebates from the state for the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products—at least $67 million in new annual revenue

The OCPA plan provides the revenue necessary—$505.4 million annually—to address a $5,000 pay raise for every classroom teacher in Oklahoma public schools statewide.

“It’s time to give teachers the pay raise they deserve and provide the funding for it and stop the rest of the bureaucracy from using teachers as pawns while state agencies refuse to reform,” OCPA president Jonathan Small said. “This plan, once passed, would make revenues available within 90 days. We believe this plan is the fastest way to get our teachers the raise they deserve.”

A close reading of Gov. Mary Fallin’s Fiscal Year 2019 budget, released last week, reveals that the gap between base agency appropriations and estimated certified revenue has been completely eliminated. Gov. Fallin’s budget also indicates that recurring certified revenue exceeds last year’s recurring appropriations by $59 million.

Small said that with the budget deficit now resolved for Oklahoma’s state government, it’s time to focus on a narrowly tailored package that solves the teacher pay raise challenge and doesn’t include cumbersome, damaging tax increases on working Oklahoma families.

“We acknowledge there is not currently the political will at the state Capitol to enact targeted reform of nonessential spending or to rein in the mismanagement that has taken place at state agencies like the Health Department, the Health Care Authority, and elsewhere,” Small said.

Small added that several proposals from state lawmakers this legislative session should also be approved to ensure that existing taxpayer resources are directed to areas of highest priority.

“Each legislative session should be devoted to reforming government and exploring the expenditure of every penny paid in by taxpayers,” Small said. “Unfortunately, this hasn’t happened.”

A few such proposals under consideration in the current session include:

• A proposal to dedicate Commissioners of the Land Office funds for salary increases for teachers and other public-school personnel
• A proposal to place on the 2018 ballot a measure allowing public schools to utilize a larger percentage of ad valorem funds for teacher and staff compensation and other classroom-related expenditures, as opposed to being restricted to facility and technology upgrades
• A proposal to institute more thorough and frequent eligibility audits of the state’s Medicaid rolls, as has recently been done in Arkansas
• A proposal to model successful reforms in other states by implementing work requirements for able-bodied adults to empower them and protect Oklahoma’s exploding Medicaid program for the most vulnerable
• A proposal to end Oklahoma’s Hollywood film credit subsidy, which paid $4.6 million to Harvey Weinstein

Parman also called for a return to oversight and responsible governance.

“This plan solves the state government problem with which there is consensus and allows for a clean slate for the rest of special session and the regular session to focus on structurally reforming and transforming Oklahoma’s structurally flawed government,” Parman said. “It is a violation of the Oklahoma Standard for policymakers and government personnel to neglect their number one responsibility which is to responsibly govern and protect the most vulnerable and taxpayers.”

“Not another penny in tax increases after this package passes should be considered at least until all of Oklahoma’s top twenty appropriated agencies have thorough financial audits, thorough performance and process improvement audits, and government personnel employment structures are reformed.”


Statement from Dr. Tom Coburn:
“For nearly eight years now, the executive branch, the bureaucracy, special interests, and even some legislators have predominantly been obsessed with trying to figure out how to get more revenue out of Oklahomans or expand government’s spending role in Oklahomans’ lives. They have thwarted efforts to truly transform government so it works better with less—and now are insisting on either tax increases or even more dysfunctional government.

“Because of their false choices, and the accompanying deterioration, teachers, the most vulnerable, working Oklahomans, and small businesses are being held captive and will suffer damaging tax increases that will harm families and ruin future efforts for pro-growth tax reform.

“To prevent that damage from occurring, this proposal by OCPA provides the best way, given the unfortunate circumstances, to give hardworking teachers the pay raise they have earned, protect the most vulnerable, and protect working Oklahomans and small businesses from damaging tax increases.

“It’s time for the circus to end. This narrowly tailored package proposed by OCPA will prioritize what’s important. It’s time for politicians to do their number one job which is tough and accountable oversight. It’s a violation of the Oklahoma Standard to raise taxes on the most vulnerable, working Oklahomans and small businesses when fraud and mismanagement is occurring at the Oklahoma Health Department, the state Medicaid budget is out of control and scores of opportunities for efficiency and savings are avoided. It’s time for politicians to do the tough work of responsible fiscal governance, structural reform and transformational policy solutions that end income the failed status quo of government operation — as promised.”

BONUS: Video of the press conference is below.

Tax Hike vote expected today: contact your legislators!

 

The Oklahoma Legislature is expected to vote on about $620M in new taxes and expanded gambling today.

These tax increases include:

• ~$243M in higher cigarette taxes
• ~$172M in higher gasoline and diesel fuel taxes
• ~$133M in a Gross Production Tax increase on oil and natural gas
• ~$20M in higher wind energy taxes
• ~$14M in taxes on little cigars and smokeless tobacco
• Expanding gambling games to bring in $22M per year
• Changes in the standard deduction ($40M in new income tax collections)

Multiple groups are working to stop these tax increases from passing, and have set up handy tools to help Oklahomans contact their legislators. Use the links below to contact your local legislators:

OCPA Impact: Tax Increases Are Moving Fast! Take Action Now!

AFP-Oklahoma: Tell Your Lawmakers "Oklahoma Can Do Better!"

No New Oklahoma Taxes: Tell Oklahoma's Leaders Not to Support a $1 BILLION Tax Increase!

To call, use the phone numbers below:

House of Representatives: 405-521-2711
State Senate: 405-524-0126
Gov. Fallin: 405-521-2342

House to move swiftly next week on Step Up Oklahoma tax hikes

In comments to the Oklahoman, House Speaker Charles McCall (R-Atoka) anticipates that the State House will move quickly to take up the "revenue raising" (i.e. tax increasing) portions of the Step Up Oklahoma plan put forward by Governor Fallin's oligarchs community and business leaders' group.

The Step Up Oklahoma plan includes about $750M in new taxes, raised via increasing the cigarette tax ($243M), GPT ($133M), gasoline and diesel tax ($170M), income tax ($144M), and a vareity of smaller tax increases and expansions.

Session begins on Monday, and McCall believes they will begin voting sometime during the week on elements of the Step Up plan.

Fallin amends 2nd Special Session call to include tax hikes

Governor Mary Fallin Amends Second Special Session Call

OKLAHOMA CITY – Governor Mary Fallin today amended the call of the second special session of the 56th Legislature, which has been in recess since Dec. 22.

The governor did not set a date when lawmakers would return to address the shortfall in the current fiscal year budget.

“Discussions are continuing about a revenue and reform plan, which seems to be growing in momentum,” said Fallin. “We’re excited that we have an opportunity to build some grass-roots support among our fellow Oklahomans to solve our budget crisis, to be able to put Oklahoma on a stable path forward, and to provide teachers a much-needed pay raise.”

The governor’s amended call asks lawmakers to consider providing a long-term revenue solution to the state’s budget shortfalls by:

• Increasing the tax on cigarettes, and little cigars by $1.50 per pack, and an additional 10 percent on chewing tobacco and e-cigarettes;
• Increasing the oil and gas gross production tax by increasing the rate on wells currently at 2 percent to 4 percent, and all future wells will begin at 4 percent for 36 months and move to 7 percent thereafter;
• Implementing a renewable generation tax at $1.00 per MWH;
• Increasing the rate on diesel and gasoline by 6 cents per gallon;
• Imposing a dollar cap on transferability/cash refundability for coal, wind and railroad tax credits effective the 2018 tax year;
• Expanding the definition of covered games in the model tribal gaming compact to include “non-house-banked table games;” and;
• Reforming rates, exemptions, deductions and credits on the individual income tax code.

Other items in the governor's call are:

• Creating an accountability office designed to expose waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayers’ dollars in state government;
• Modifying the structure of state government and increasing accountability by replacing the appointing power of specified boards and commissions with granting the governor direct appointing authority over these specified agency directors.  This can be accomplished by statutory change or by referring a constitutional change to a vote of the people when necessary, and;
• Addressing a needed $5,000 pay increase for certified education staff, excluding any superintendents.

 The items in the governor’s call mirror many of the items recommended by Step Up Oklahoma, a group of Oklahoma business and community leaders.

“I appreciate the efforts of these business and community leaders working together to build statewide, nonpartisan support to help the Legislature address teacher pay raises and fix our budget crisis,” Fallin said. “It is critical to our state's future to fix the budget's structural problems and put our state on a predictable, stable foundation for success. I’m optimistic, with the effort and determination shown by Step Up Oklahoma, that lawmakers can pass a realistic solution to the state’s current budget problem.”

House does reboot on $454M tax increase, floor vote tomorrow

Yesterday, the State Senate passed HB1035X in a manner that brought up constitutionality questions (I posted on that here). Rather than proceeding down a road that could result in another Supreme Court ruling it unconstitutional, the State House decided today to avoid those issues, and do a "reboot" of the measure.

Here's what Majority Floor Leader Jon Echols (R-OKC) said on Twitter:

It will be HB 1054. Identical to bill passed by Senate but removes all doubt as to constitutional process. Senate agrees with this move.

— Jon Echols (@jonechols) November 7, 2017

From State Rep. Josh Cockroft (R-Tecumseh):

Yesterday the Oklahoma Senate heard HB1035 which had passed off the House Floor two weeks ago. This bill included a cigarette tax, a motor vehicle fuel tax, and an alcohol tax. They added language including a 4% Gross Production Tax on the Senate Floor and passed it 37-5. This essentially made it the same bill which I voted for in the Budget Committee last week(HB1054), but failed to gain enough support in that committee.

This is where it gets tricky: Questions of constitutionality were immediately raised since a revenue raising bill must start in the House. Because HB1035 passed from the House with 54 votes, but failed to gain the required 76 votes a revenue raising measure must have, constitutionally it wasn’t viewed as a revenue raising measure. Instead it would have gone to the ballot for the people to vote on. When the Senate changed the revenue raising language and voted it through with over the 75% required, it called into question the legality of advancing the bill any further.

Today during negotiations between the Governor, Senate, and House an agreement was reached not to hear HB1035 in the House. Instead, HB1054 with the exact same language as HB1035 as passed by the Senate, would be brought up again in the House budget committee and moved forward.

The language from HB1035X was placed into HB1054X (which deadlocked in a tie during committee vote on October 27th), and the Joint Committee on Appropriations passed the measure 19-6. The measure will now be taken up on the House floor tomorrow.

HB1054X is projected to bring in $455M in taxes annually, and $140M for the remainder of the current fiscal year:

•  Cigarette tax increase: $243.5M annually
• Mixed beverage tax on low-point beer: $14.5M annually
• 6-cent increase on gasoline and diesel tax: $170.4M annually
• GPT increase from 2% to 4% after 36 months: $13.4M annually
• Miscellaneous tobacco taxes: $12.9M annually
• TOTAL = $454,859,000 annually

State Senate passes $440M+ tax hike

The State Senate today voted 37-5 to increase taxes by over $440M annually. HB1035X, which was passed by the House on October 25th (by a vote of 55-44), was amended on the Senate floor and cleared the three-fourths hurdle for tax increases by one vote.

HB1035X increases these taxes (the first 6 were in the House version; the Senate struck one, and added a seventh):

• Increase Cigarette Excise Tax ($1.50 per pack): $107.4M for FY18, $243.5M for FY19 and following
• Apply 13.5% Mixed Beverage Tax on low-point beer: $14.5M for FY18, $14.5M for FY19 and following
• Increase Excise Tax on Gasoline and Diesel by 6¢ per gallon: $56.8M for FY18, $170.4M for FY19 and following
• Tax Little Cigars as Cigarettes: $694K for FY18, $1.6M for FY19 and following
• Increase on smokeless tobacco products: $3.7M for FY18, $11.2M for FY19 and following
• Reduce discount on cigarette stamps from 15¢ to 1¢: $495K for FY18, $1.2M for FY19 and following The Senate version nixed this from the House version
• SENATE ADDED - increase the gross production tax on new wells from 2% to 4% (goes to 7% after 7 years): fiscal impact not given, but likely in the tens of millions

Without adding the unknown sum for the GPT increase, the projected total in new tax collections for the remainder of FY18 would be $183,263,000, while the total for following fiscal years would be $441,390,000.

SoonerPolitics.org has the roll call vote list -- the State Senate has not posted the roll call on their website at this hour. All five no votes were Republicans.

More to come on this later.