Senate, House Leaders Comment on Revised Revenue Estimates

The Republican leaders of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and Senate said the Legislature must proceed very cautiously on the FY 2008 budget following Thursday’s recommendation by the Oklahoma Tax Commission that tax revenue estimates be significantly reduced compared to estimates made last December.

Tax commissioners officially reduced their estimates for tax collections for the 2008 fiscal year by more than $250 million. Commissioners also sent a letter to the Office of State Finance advising that corporate income tax collections should also be reduced by about $100 million compared to the previous estimate, for a total reduction of more than $350 million.

“This news validates our concerns that the governor was being rash with his spending proposals and that his budget was based on very rosy revenue projections,” stated Senate Co-President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City. “The Legislature must proceed very cautiously. We should treat the Tax Commission’s warning about reduced tax collections very seriously – especially the news that corporate income tax collections are also likely to be far less than officially projected.”

Speaker of the House Lance Cargill, R-Harrah, said, “This is exactly why we’ve emphasized fiscal responsibility this year and why we have already laid the groundwork for cutting and eliminating needless government bureaucracy. We call on the governor to reconsider his bloated budget and scrap the billion dollars in new spending and debt that he has proposed. We’ve seen a wide fluctuation in revenue estimates so far. When the Democrats were in control several years ago and there were shortfalls, their answer was to raise the income tax. That won’t happen on our watch.”