OCPA

The Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled that a proposed penny sales tax that would pay for a teacher pay raise and fund other areas of education in Oklahoma can be placed on a ballot for a statewide vote.

In a 6-3 decision Tuesday, the state's highest court rejected claims that measure unconstitutionally combines multiple subjects into a single vote.

The state Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday over the legality of a petition to fund education through a one-cent sales tax. The debate focuses on whether the petition should be broken down in to multiple subjects, or remain as one.

Attorneys for OCPA Impact, argued that the initiative petition would do four things:

At a State Supreme Court hearing on Thursday, attorneys argued over the legality of petition to fund education through a one-cent sales tax.

OU President David Boren’s petition aims to raise sales taxes in order to fund teacher pay raises and other aspects of education in the state. But there is an argument on whether the petition should be broken into multiple petitions, or remain as one.

A right-wing advocacy group is calling OU President David Boren’s penny sales tax petition unconstitutional.

Boren and his group, Oklahoma’s Children – Our Future, filed the petition in late October, and want the one cent tax increase to fund various aspects of education in the state. But Dave Bond, the CEO for OCPA Impact, filed a formal protest with the State Supreme Court on Thursday, saying the petition violates the state’s constitutional single subject rule, and accused Boren’s group of logrolling four different subjects in to one petition.