(The Center Square) - The Oklahoma Senate adjourned for the session Tuesday without taking up any legislation proposed by Gov. Kevin Stitt.
The governor said he wanted three things from the called special session: budget transparency, tax cuts and tax equality.
Specifically, Stitt said at a morning news conference that a proposed .25% income tax cut is on the table that would be funded with $1.2 billion in excess funds.
"Oklahoma has never been in a better position to cut taxes," Stitt said. "We have a billion-dollar surplus with five billion in savings."
House Speaker Charles McCall and Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, backed the governor. Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat was not with Stitt at the news conference.
Senate Republicans asked the governor to appear at an appropriations committee. Stitt did not.
"it's not like he was out of the country. It's not like he was out of the state," Treat said at a news conference after adjourning. "He was downstairs. He was three floors down holding a press conference."
Treat said he does not know what the governor wants "other than what he tweets."
"I saw his plan--cut spending, cut taxes," Treat said. "I have yet to see him present a budget that does the first part of that."
Neither the governor nor McCall were not told about the Senate's decision to sine die beforehand.
"I truly walked into the building now knowing if we would sine die or not," Treat said. "I actually thought we would not because I had been getting some now faulty intel that the governor may actually show up."
Senate Democrats said the governor's proposal didn't meet certain criteria.
"Our caucus is happy to consider tax reform if committee members and the public vet it during the regular session, if it primarily benefits the 70% of Oklahoma households who earn less than $75 thousand a year, and if it does not limit public access to health care, emergency services, or education," said Senate Democratic Leader Kay Floyd, D-Oklahoma City in a statement.
Stitt did not respond to a request for comment from The Center Square on Tuesday afternoon.
via Oklahoma's Center Square News