Oklahoma
State Senate
Communications Division
State Capitol
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
For Immediate Release: February 3, 2009
Senator Mike Mazzei
Senate Finance Committee Approves Measure
to Remove Income Tax Reduction Trigger
The Senate Finance Committee
has approved legislation to remove the statutory trigger required
to reduce the state’s income tax from 5.5 percent to 5.25
percent, clearing the way for that reduction to take place in
tax year 2010. Finance chairman Senator Mike Mazzei is the author
of Senate Bill 315 which was approved on Tuesday.
“One of the reasons Oklahoma’s economy is doing better
than others is the focus we’ve had on tax relief during
the past several sessions,” said Mazzei, R-Tulsa. “We
believe it’s important in the Senate to keep focusing on
our goal to get the income tax lower.”
SB 315 would remove the existing trigger which requires four percent
growth in the General Revenue Fund plus the cost of increases
in the standard deduction before the income tax rate can drop
from 5.5 to 5.25 percent.
Mazzei is optimistic the measure will win approval when it next
moves to the full Senate for consideration.
“Economies expand when hard-working Oklahomans are able
to keep more of what they earn,” Mazzei said. “Certainly,
in the end we must consider how all proposals will fit together
as we work to create a balanced budget, but it is important that
we keep this reduction on the table as we move through the process.”
