Senate Democrats Ignore Most Important Tax Relief Bills in First Committee Meeting

Just days after the State Senate’s Democrat President Pro Tem Mike Morgan said he has “great fear and trepidation” about reducing taxes this legislative session, the Democrat chairman of the Senate Finance Committee left the two most important tax reform issues off the schedule at the committee’s first meeting on Tuesday, February 7.

“First, the Democrat leader of the Senate said he is ‘afraid’ to provide tax relief to the people of Oklahoma. Then, the Democrat chairman of the Finance Committee didn’t schedule hearings for the Senate bills to eliminate the death tax and reduce the state’s high income tax, which are the two most important tax reform issues facing the Legislature in 2006,” Coffee stated.

“This doesn’t give me much hope that Senate Democrats will allow these important issues to be heard this session. It seems that Senate Democrats are more interested in spending all the taxpayers’ money on big government programs than reducing the tax burden on the people of Oklahoma,” Coffee said.

Senate Republicans have proposed fully eliminating the state death tax to help save small businesses and family farms. These family-owned operations sometimes have to be sold off to pay the state death tax when a family member passes away.

Senate Republicans have also proposed reducing Oklahoma’s high income tax rate, which at 6.25% is one of the highest in the region. Oklahoma’s high income tax rate is considered a major impediment to keeping and attracting good jobs and businesses.

Coffee has written Finance Committee Chairman Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant, formally asking him to schedule committee votes for GOP-authored bills to reduce the state income tax and eliminate the estate tax, but … “I’m not holding my breath that the liberal Democrat leadership will allow these bills to see the light of day in the State Senate. But with so much excess revenue, significant tax relief can and should happen during the 2006 legislative session,” Coffee said.

Current projections show that legislators could have more than $1 billion in additional revenues this legislative session – including some $600 million available now and another $400 million available after
July 1.