House and Senate leaders take differing views on Governor Kevin Stitt's special session call to cut the individual income tax rate.
TRANSCRIPT
Dick Pryor: This is Capitol Insider - taking you inside politics, policy and government in Oklahoma. I'm Dick Pryor with Quorum Call publisher Shawn Ashley. The special session Governor Kevin Stitt called for the purpose of reducing the individual income tax rate will convene on Monday at 9 a.m.. Shawn, normally we would talk about what will happen during the session, but the main question this time is what is not going to happen?
Shawn Ashley: Yeah, it's kind of ironic that that seems to be more clear this time around, because on Wednesday, Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat announced the Senate will answer Stitt’s call for a special session and convene on Monday but it will immediately adjourn to the call of the chair without taking up any legislation before February 5th, when the regular session begins. Treat said, “the appropriate time for discussion on budget and taxes is during regular session. That starts a week after the governor's special session call.”
Dick Pryor: So, what is the plan?
Shawn Ashley: Well, the Senate will gavel in and gavel out to the call of the chair. Now, that means they could come back into special session during the regular session or even after the regular session ends. House Speaker Charles McCall said the House will take up a tax cut bill. As McCall noted Wednesday, “It won't be the first time the House has considered an income tax cut. So, I expect it will go straight to the floor perhaps as early as Wednesday, skipping the committee process where it will be passed. But until the Senate agrees to hear that bill, it's not going to go anywhere.”
Dick Pryor: Senate President Pro Tem Treat says he thinks the special session is political theater and a waste of taxpayer dollars. And the Senate will not call a tax cut bill for a vote before the start of the regular session on February 5th.That elicited a terse response from Governor Stitt.
Shawn Ashley: Indeed it did. Stitt said, “If anything is a waste of taxpayer money, it is the refusal of Senate leadership to give Oklahomans a well-deserved pay raise.” Now, Stitt has urged lawmakers time and time again to reduce the individual income tax in his State of the State speech and in special session calls. But since he has been in office, they've only approved one - in 2021 - which reduced the top rate from 5% to its current 4.75% level. In 2022, after the Senate did not take up a tax cut, Stitt called lawmakers back in a special session, but the Senate refused to consider any bills passed by the House. The Senate did not take up a tax cut bill during the 2023 regular session. And as we may all remember, Stitt called them back in October and the Senate adjourned that special session the same day it started, before the House had an opportunity to pass any bills. McCall said in October, “I think it's very simple. The Senate should just do what the House does and put it up for a vote. If the Senate members don't want it, vote it down. The issue will be closed. The problem is there's been four sessions where nothing has gone up on the board for a vote.”
Dick Pryor: President Pro Tem Treat praised Governor Stitt for negotiating and signing compacts with the Chickasaw and Apache nations. What do the compacts do?
Shawn Ashley: Stitt signed tobacco tax compacts with both tribes and a car tax compact with the Chickasaw Nation. The tobacco tax compacts largely are similar to the previous compacts with the tribes and split the revenue from the tax between the state and the tribes, except their application is limited to tribal trust land and restricted allotments in alignment with the historical understanding of Indian Country. Now, this has been a concern for Stitt as a result of the McGirt decision. Stitt said he feared if the decision was applied to civil matters such as taxes, it would result in an expansion of tribal tobacco shops in reservation areas. The car tag compact, too, is similar to past compacts, but it contains language guaranteeing that the Chickasaw tag information will be shared with law enforcement and the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority for its pay by mail toll program, a concern Stitt and some other officials raised last year.
Dick Pryor: Thank you, Shawn.
Shawn Ashley: You're very welcome.
Dick Pryor: And that's Capitol Insider. For more information, go to quorumcall.online. You can find audio and transcripts at kgou.org and look for Capitol Insider where you get podcasts. Until next time, with Shawn Ashley, I'm Dick Pryor.
KGOU produces journalism in the public interest, essential to an informed electorate. Help support informative, in-depth journalism with a donation online, or contact our Membership department.
