(The Center Square) - The Oklahoma Senate will convene for a special session on Monday but will not vote on a proposed income tax cut called for by Gov. Kevin Stitt, according to Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat.
Stitt wants lawmakers to consider a decrease in the state's personal income tax by one quarter of a percentage point. The special session occurs just a week before the start of the 2024 legislative session.
Treat said Wednesday the regular session is the time to discuss tax cuts.
“During the regular session and only after we have certified numbers from the Board of Equalization, is when we will know how much we have to spend," Treat said. "I feel like the governor’s numbers compared to what we are seeing are simply not accurate."
Stitt said last week that general revenue fund collections are $196 million, or 5.1% above estimates, according to the Board of Equalization. The state has $5.4 billion in savings, he said.
“All I asked was for Senator Treat to put a quarter-point tax cut up for a vote," Stitt said Wednesday. "The Senate is refusing to do what 65% of Oklahomans support: cutting taxes. If anything is a waste of taxpayer money, it is the refusal of Senate leadership to give Oklahomans a well-deserved pay raise.”
House Speaker Charles McCall told KOCO News the House will pass the tax cuts in the special session.
Democrats have called the special session "a publicity stunt."
"We have not even completed our agency budget hearings to gain a comprehensive understanding of our state's fiscal picture, including the potential loss of federal dollars post-Covid," said House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, last week. "We will have four months beginning February 5 to deliberate fiscal and policy ideas.
via Oklahoma's Center Square News