Finance Committee Chair Still Favors Tax Cuts for Oklahomans;Not Out-of-State Residents

Note to Editor: Senator Jay Paul Gumm, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and a Democrat from Durant, made the following statement in response to a press release from Senator Ron Justice on the so-called “Come Home Oklahoma” Act.

“I’m deeply troubled that a member of the Senate is willing to tell the people of Oklahoma-people who have lived here their entire life, people who have raised their families here and people who have invested in their communities- that they have to keep paying taxes but some newcomer should get off tax free.

“This very poorly conceived proposal was given more than adequate consideration by the Finance Committee, and was soundly rejected because it was so patently unfair to all Oklahomans.

“Here is an example of just how unfair this proposal is: The bill would create a situation where two people – one a lifelong Oklahoman and the other a newcomer – working side-by-side in the same job would have vastly different take-home paychecks. The lifelong Oklahoman would have been severely shortchanged by what I call the “Keep Taxing Oklahomans” plan.

“This bill is a bad idea, plain and simple. All the press releases in the world will not spin it into a good idea.”