 Majority Floor Leader, Jon Echols |  Current & former Budget chairs, Kevin Wallace & Leslie Osborn Updated: The Oklahoma House leadership just announced a series of new appropriations and budget bills this morning in a short floor session. The only business was to read the titles of a few leadership bills and assign them to the Appropriations and budget committee. The A&B chairman, Kevin Wallace, also announced a committee meeting to convene right after the 15 min floor session. It is expected that this series of bills will take a completely different form via proposed amendments. The members will be asked to vote on them within minutes after first seeing them. If successful, the bills will probably move to the House floor for quickie votes next Monday. And yes, these bills have emergency clauses, so they can go into effect even before their constitutionality can be challenged. |
UPDATE:
The House A & B met within an hour after the floor session and had one bill. HB3711 was amended from the 'shell bill' previously filed. The Amendment dealt with tax credits to 'Zero Emission' energy producers. that's code-speak for the wind industry which has created the new wind farms in predominantly western Oklahoma.
For years they have cost the state millions each year in refundable tax credits. HB3711, as amended, cuts that credit in half (from 85% down to 42.5%).
The bill as amended passed the house on a 12-9 vote. Leadership provided the margin to get it passed.
Of all the revenue increases, this idea has the most popular support. Currently, the wind industry takes from Oklahoma but the jobs and other indirect benefit is so marginal. This appears to be truly a welfare payment from the consumers' income & sales tax, to the out-of-state wind industry.
Also amended is HB3710. It caps the fund for wind energy credits at $35 million per year. In previous years a much higher amount was paid out to corporations who produced wind energy in Oklahoma, and sold that energy mostly to other states. Those windmills are costing us money, but giving us essentially no benefit. Yet the lobbyists are keeping those millions coming from our sales tax and income tax.
Rep Jon Echols was quick to respond to social media inquiries. He said; "The two bills being heard are dealing with wind tax credits. One caps the wind tax credit at 35 million the other lowers refund ability from 85 cents to 42.5.".
The House A & B met within an hour after the floor session and had one bill. HB3711 was amended from the 'shell bill' previously filed. The Amendment dealt with tax credits to 'Zero Emission' energy producers. that's code-speak for the wind industry which has created the new wind farms in predominantly western Oklahoma.
For years they have cost the state millions each year in refundable tax credits. HB3711, as amended, cuts that credit in half (from 85% down to 42.5%).
The bill as amended passed the house on a 12-9 vote. Leadership provided the margin to get it passed.
Of all the revenue increases, this idea has the most popular support. Currently, the wind industry takes from Oklahoma but the jobs and other indirect benefit is so marginal. This appears to be truly a welfare payment from the consumers' income & sales tax, to the out-of-state wind industry.
Also amended is HB3710. It caps the fund for wind energy credits at $35 million per year. In previous years a much higher amount was paid out to corporations who produced wind energy in Oklahoma, and sold that energy mostly to other states. Those windmills are costing us money, but giving us essentially no benefit. Yet the lobbyists are keeping those millions coming from our sales tax and income tax.
Rep Jon Echols was quick to respond to social media inquiries. He said; "The two bills being heard are dealing with wind tax credits. One caps the wind tax credit at 35 million the other lowers refund ability from 85 cents to 42.5.".
