(The Center Square) - Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt was given a "B" for his fiscal policies by The Cato Institute.
The libertarian think tank cited Stitt's approval of a 0.25 percentage point reduction in the state's income tax and the corporate income tax reduction from 6% to 4%.
"Stitt did not stop there," the organization said in its report. "In his 2022 state of the state address, he said he wants to make 'Oklahoma the most business-friendly state in the nation by reforming our tax code.' One of his goals is to phase out the individual income tax through which most small business income flows."
Stitt proposed phasing out the state's grocery tax. The House passed the bill, but the Senate did not. A tax reform policy working group will decide if the grocery tax will be eliminated, senators said in a news release last month.
"Economists predict this recession is going to be durable and painful," said Senate Appropriations Chairman Roger Thompson, R-Okemah, last month. "We have lived through years where we've had $1.3 billion shortfalls. We don't want a repeat of those years."
The Senate also rejected a plan for additional income tax reductions.
Stitt was opposed to Medicaid expansion which was narrowly approved by voters in 2020. The governor signed two bills in June that he said would change how Medicaid is delivered. One requires the Oklahoma Health Care Authority to enter into a flat fee payment arrangement with partners for the delivery of Medicaid services. The other used federal dollars to make supplemental payments to providers.
The Cato Institute credited Stitt, an accountant and entrepreneur, with bringing a different approach to the state.
"Stitt's predecessor in the governor's office, Mary Fallin, scored poorly on the 2018 Cato report because of her tax increases, and Stitt promised to move in a different direction," the report said.
via Oklahoma's Center Square News