January Editorial Winner

Important Decision: Special session not the time, place for tax cut consideration

By Jeff Funk, Enid News & Eagle

Gov. Kevin Stitt is calling the Oklahoma Legislature back into special session Jan. 29  to consider a single topic: cutting the state income tax rate by 0.25%. It’s a plan that scores political points but lacks practical common sense.

Certainly the idea of paying less income tax is appealing to Oklahoma voters. But, the special session at this point appears doomed to failure, with Senate leadership poised to adjourn the special legislative session just minutes after it begins.

Timing for such a special legislative session is awkward, coming just a week before the Legislature begins its regular spring session. Cutting the Oklahoma income tax, a huge source of money state government uses to pay for important services, is not something that should be done on short notice in a special session. It should be contemplated only as part of full state budget discussions and negotiations.

The Oklahoma Constitution requires the governor and Legislature to balance the budget. So, when Stitt is pushing to cut the state income tax, expense cuts or an alter-native revenue source should be identified. That’s not the situation here.

Next month, Stitt will present his State of the State speech and will propose his budget for the coming fiscal year. That’s the proper time and place for such a tax cut proposal. By that time, state leaders also will have the latest update on the state’s economy and what income state government is expected to receive for 2024-25 operations. Other proposals, such as eliminating the state’s sales tax on groceries, can be considered as well.

Many state legislators are understand-ably reluctant to eliminate a tax or cut a tax rate. Such cuts are effectively permanent, because a large supermajority of both houses is required for the Legislature to reverse course and increase taxes in case of a future revenue shortfall. That’s a really high hurdle for any decision and especially a tax decision. With the state receiving a large chunk of revenue from a tax on oil and gas production, and that pro-duction tax depending on an often-volatile energy market, the state’s revenue is far from guaranteed.

The idea of reducing the tax rate is appealing to Oklahoma voters, and such a reduction still could be approved this spring. But, the single-issue special session is not the right way to make that happen.