OKLAHOMA CITY —
A plan agreed upon by the governor and legislative leaders last week to slash Oklahoma’s top income tax rate won’t be heard in the House after opposition mounted to the plan that would actually increase the tax liability for some taxpayers, House leaders said Wednesday.
Instead, House Speaker Kris Steele and other leaders in the House unveiled a new proposal that would slash the state’s top income tax rate from 5.25 percent to 5 percent, beginning in 2014, if certain revenue growth triggers are met.
Lawmakers are required to adjourn by 5 p.m. Friday, and the new House plan has not been endorsed by the Senate or Gov. Mary Fallin. Several rank-and-file senators said they hadn’t even seen the details of the House proposal early Wednesday.
“The governor has not endorsed any alternative to the tax cut deal agreed to last week,” Fallin spokesman Alex Weintz said in a statement. “She continues to support that plan as originally agreed to and strongly encourages House leadership to put that plan up for a vote today.”
Steele said House Republicans balked at the plan announced last week after learning it would actually increase the tax liability for more than 400,000 Oklahoma tax filers. That proposal, which was announced at a joint press conference last week with Fallin and House and Senate leaders, would have slashed the top rate from 5.25 percent to 4.8 percent in 2013.
“Part of being a leader is recognizing when something doesn’t work,” Steele said. “The House could not fully embrace that tax plan.
“We just couldn’t embrace the portion that led to a tax increase.”
The increase in tax liability resulted from the elimination of two personal deductions enjoyed by thousands of taxpayers, including the personal exemption of $1,000 per dependent for those individuals who earn more than $35,000 or for couples who earn more than $70,000.
The new House proposal, which is expected to be considered in a House committee Wednesday afternoon, would put in place a series of revenue growth triggers to slash the top rate by one-quarter of 1 percent, beginning in 2014, each time the triggers are met. The triggers would be activated if there was a 5 percent increase in revenue collections from five separate sources: motor vehicle taxes, use taxes, sales taxes, income taxes, and corporate taxes that are apportioned to the general fund.
Senate leaders have said they oppose the idea of revenue triggers to cut taxes.
Local News
Okla. House scuttles tax agreement; has new plan
- Local News
-
-
Families, friends invited to honor veterans with flags this weekend
Small lengths of plastic pipe have been installed behind the headstones of veterans graves in Joplin cemeteries so that every veteran will have a flag on Memorial Day.
-
Events, activities planned to honor veterans Monday
No ceremonies are planned at Joplin cemeteries this year or at Mount Hope Cemetery in Webb City, but a number of other events are scheduled in cities around the region.
-
Oklahoma gets far more than its share of disasters
Many states get hit frequently with tornadoes and other natural catastrophes, but Oklahoma is Disaster Central.
-
Sheriff’s funds to pay for two building projects
Jasper County’s general fund budget may pay some initial costs for renovating and constructing two county buildings, but the final bill for the projects will come from law enforcement sales tax funds.
-
Joplin Board of Education to decide fate of East Middle School teacher
After hearing nearly 10 hours of testimony from more than a dozen witnesses and accepting more than 45 exhibits into evidence, members of the Joplin Board of Education voted to move behind closed doors Thursday night to decide whether Randy Turner, a communication arts teacher at East Middle School, will continue to teach.
-
Memorial Day travelers bemoan high gas prices
Norm Hayward and his wife, Claudia, have a couple of things going for them as they continue their increasingly expensive motor home trip around parts of the United States. For starters, the Phoenix, Ariz., couple are saving on hotel costs.
-
Cunningham Park vandalism estimated at $4,000
Vandals caused an estimated $4,000 worth of damage in Cunningham Park, draining the pool in the aquatic center of about 200,000 gallons of water and throwing some large landscaping rocks into the reflecting pond.
-
No charges to be filed in Joplin shooting case
The nonfatal shooting of a 25-year-old man at a Joplin residence on May 13 has been deemed justified by authorities. Jacob B. Boykin, 21, of Joplin, shot Justin S. Johnson, 25, of Carterville, once in the chest with a small-caliber handgun at 5260 E. Sunny Acres Lane.
-
Joplin team drove through storm to get to Moore
It was a long drive in the middle of a severe thunderstorm that had earlier produced a massive tornado in Moore, Okla. With the two-year anniversary of Joplin’s deadly twister approaching on Wednesday, a team of 14 Joplin emergency workers was ready to risk the trip in order to get help to a hurting Moore.
-
Mike Pound: DVD smells like pizza; how great is that?
Just when I think the rest of the world is passing us by, this great country does something that renews my faith in innovation. It does something that renews my faith in that can-do spirit that led Charles Lindbergh to fly nonstop across the Atlantic, thus leading to the invention of the airplane bathroom.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Families, friends invited to honor veterans with flags this weekend
