‘Is this a press conference or is this a real budget meeting?’: Fiery debate over personal income tax cut between OK lawmakers, Governor
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OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – As lawmakers are up against the wall on finalizing a budget by the end of May, the Governor called for a last-minute budget summit that didn’t end in many agreements.
Governor Kevin Stitt and the Oklahoma House of Representatives have been pushing for a quarter of a point personal income tax cut, but the Senate has stood firm in not taking up the issue.
The regular legislative session is supposed to end May 31, which means the FY25 budget also has to be finished by that time.
However, with lawmakers hitting a wall on the personal income tax cut, the budget has not been finalized and the Senate doesn’t believe it will be this week.
In a “budget summit” Monday afternoon, Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat (R-OKC) asked to go through the respective budget proposals line by line to ensure everyone was on the same page.
“It’s time for us to put the people of Oklahoma over politics and find real bipartisan solutions to the challenges our citizens face,” said Senator Kay Floyd (D-OKC). “We know Oklahomans are worried about our kids succeeding in school, being able to pay their bills at the end of the month, and seeing their doctor as soon as they need to. We don’t believe the current budget proposals from the House or Senate include solutions to those challenges.”
Multiple times, the question of whether the personal income tax cut would happen this year came up, even sometimes randomly.
“If you want to put more money in education, I can get there but let’s talk about a tax cut,” stated House Appropriations Chair, Representative Kevin Wallace (R-Wellston).
Pro Tem Treat ignored Rep. Wallace’s comment and continued reviewing the education portion of the budget.
“So you wanna talk about a tax cut or not?,” asked Rep. Wallace.
“Is this a press conference or is this a real budget meeting?,” responded Pro Tem Treat.
Speaker of the House Charles McCall also laid a hand of pressure on Pro Tem Treat by asking if he’ll allow his caucus to vote on the personal income tax cut. The Pro Tem said he’s had those conversations with his chamber and that they’re all in agreement that they want to make sure the state can afford an income tax cut first.
Pro Tem Treat has previously stated he doesn’t think the state can afford another tax cut right now.
“We’re not interested in CPAC scores. We’re not interested in the next election,” Pro Tem Treat fired towards Speaker McCall.
A 4.5% state grocery tax cut was also passed by both chambers and signed into law by Gov. Stitt earlier this year.
Pro Tem Treat publicly stated his caucus will likely not be voting on a personal income tax cut this year.
Aside from the constant discussion on a personal income tax cut, Gov. Stitt was asked what his thoughts on the budget were. He said he’s hoping to see limited government and more protections for law enforcement.
One agreement made on Monday was lawmakers approved $45 million in disaster relief matching funds to help assist with tornado damage several communities have suffered in the last two weeks.
Both chambers and the Governor have agreed to meet again Thursday afternoon to continue the budgetary conversation.
“Nothing we heard from the Senate, House or Speaker in [Monday’s] budget meeting makes me confident we’re moving in the right direction,” said Sen. Julia Kirt (D-OKC).
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