tax cut

Oklahoma’s finances are doing better than expected, as state revenues this year exceed estimates and state savings accounts swell thanks to hefty deposits.

Despite progress toward reaching a finalized state budget, a rift remains between House and Senate members about whether to pass a state income tax cut. The House has a proposal and is ready to negotiate.

Gov. Kevin Stitt and legislative leaders met for a second day of public budget negotiations on Thursday, where tax cuts figured in prominently.

Oklahoma lawmakers are close to reaching a budget deal. It could be as soon as the weekend if you ask certain members of the House. But remaining funding disagreements and a shake-up in Senate fiscal leadership are expected to delay productive negotiations.

House Speaker Charles McCall and Appropriations and Budget Chair Kevin Wallace introduced their chamber’s proposed state budget for Fiscal Year 2025 Tuesday, but the inclusion of an income tax cut and a $1 billion gap between the House and Senate plans, means the fight over how to spend state tax dollars continues.

A tax burden isn’t the dollars and cents you pay in taxes. Instead, it’s the proportion of total income you pay toward state and local taxes.

House Republicans are pushing the conversation about more tax cuts forward with a slate of bills passed late last week. The Senate’s proposed budget, however, doesn’t account for slashes to any more of Oklahoma’s revenue streams.

A cut to Oklahoma’s grocery tax has been widely praised. But one small piece of the new law cutting taxes could have an outsized impact on the state’s cities and towns. The problem is in the state's founding document, one mayor says.

Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill eliminating the state’s portion of the grocery tax into law Wednesday. Questions around the likelihood of a state income tax cut being next remain.

After long delays in considering any tax cut measures, the Senate passed an elimination of the state portion of the sales tax on groceries. Next on the menu for the House is an income tax cut, but Senate leadership has no appetite for cutting more revenue streams.