Smalley & Cockroft pushed a 50% tax increase on the already-massive tax bill for mobile communications. Currently, the combined taxes and fees for mobile communications is roughly 3 times what our sales tax rate averages, across the state.
At a time when Oklahoma cannot pay for the massive government we already have; this new agency will make mobile communication just that much harder to access. Most of Oklahoma already has an efficient way to reach emergency services, but when you can't afford cell service, this legislation may actually make it harder for those on limited incomes to get a message to emergency services. It is astonishing that this bill passed without real floor debate.
The nation might not have a welfare program for free "ObamaPhones" if it weren't so taxing to pay for cell service on our own.
At a time when Oklahoma cannot pay for the massive government we already have; this new agency will make mobile communication just that much harder to access. Most of Oklahoma already has an efficient way to reach emergency services, but when you can't afford cell service, this legislation may actually make it harder for those on limited incomes to get a message to emergency services. It is astonishing that this bill passed without real floor debate.
The nation might not have a welfare program for free "ObamaPhones" if it weren't so taxing to pay for cell service on our own.
The bill passed the House on a 70-16 vote.
HB 3126 contains numerous provisions related to the Oklahoma 9-1-1 Management Authority Act, including
HB 3126 contains numerous provisions related to the Oklahoma 9-1-1 Management Authority Act, including
- creation of the Oklahoma 9-1-1 Management Authority (the “Authority”);
- administrative support from the OK Department of Emergency Management (OEM);
- creation of a revolving fund;
- imposition of a $0.75 monthly fee for wireless, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and prepaid wireless services;
- directing a portion of fees collected to certain providers and to the Tax Commission (OTC);
- and distribution of fee revenue to public agencies.
 Senator Jason Smalley & Representative Josh Cockroft | The $0.75 monthly fee imposed on wireless, VoIP, and prepaid wireless services represents a $0.25 increase for consumers. The current $0.50 fee for these same services is being collected by various entities and remitted to 11 separate locations (according to the Oklahoma Municipal League). Fee revenue per HB 3126 is to be collected by the provider or retailer and paid to OTC. Annualized fee revenue is calculated as follows (actual fee revenue was unavailable for certain elements, given the high number of collectors and remitting. |
| YEAS: 70 Banz Hall Morrissette Rogers Biggs Hardin Mulready Rousselot Billy Hoskin Munson Russ Brown Johnson Murdock Scott Caldwell Joyner Nelson Sears Cannaday Kannady Newell Sherrer Casey Kirby Nollan Shoemake Cleveland Kouplen Ortega Stone Cockroft Leewright Osborn Thomsen Condit Lepak Ownbey Vaughan Coody, A. Lockhart Park Virgin Coody, J. Loring Perryman Walker Cooksey Martin Peterson Wallace Cox McBride Pfeiffer Watson Derby McCall Proctor Wright Dunlap McCullough Pruett Young Dunnington McDaniel, J. Renegar Griffith McPeak D. Roberts |  NAYS: 16 Brumbaugh Jordan Moore Shelton Calvey Kern Murphey Tadlock Echols R. McDaniel Ritze Wesselhoft Faught Montgomery S. Roberts Williams |
