Fallin Pushes Back on Tax Cut Naysayers, Points To Connecticut Job Loses
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 13, 2016
Governor Mary Fallin Statement on General Electric Leaving High-Tax Connecticut
OKLAHOMA CITY – Governor Mary Fallin today released this statement on General Electric’s decision to leave the state of Connecticut because of that state’s tax hike on business:
“This is precisely why we know lower taxes influence where businesses go. High taxes are job killers and hurt families’ disposable income. Some have suggested that Oklahoma should postpone the 0.25 percent income tax cut that went into effect this month because of the budget shortfall and its impact on the upcoming 2017 fiscal year. The income tax cut’s budgetary impact in the upcoming 2017 fiscal year is only a little more than 10 percent of the projected budget hole. Oklahoma would still have over an $800 million budget hole even if that tax cut hadn’t taken effect.
“Up until the energy industry downturn, Oklahoma had the fourth-fasted growing economy in the nation. This tax cut will prove its worth in the long term. Tax policy is long-term policy and over the long term, a lower tax burden is good policy and the policy the voters have asked for in Oklahoma. If Oklahoma wants to attract and retain good jobs – rather than losing them to neighboring states – we must improve our tax climate.”
###
Actually, there is very little evidence — precise or otherwise — that supports the notion that tax climate is a particularly important factor that businesses and corporations weigh in moving jobs. In fact, there is little evidence that high taxes are “job killers,” but there is quite a bit of evidence that OK Republicans have constructed a tax regime that cannot pay for the things that provide working Oklahomans with avenues into the middle class. As an educator, I view the Governor’s defense of these irresponsible tax cuts a pathetic and half-hearted dodge. Regardless of whether is “just 10%,” you don’t cut taxes in the midst of a revenue crisis
Mary took the “tax cut cool aid” long ago and is not likely to ever change her tune. It seems to never occur to her that Oklahoma gets what it pays for (and deserves) when it comes to the states financing of essential services (education, transportation, health, etc.) —- and that these might matter to a company seeking a business location. Oklahoma can always be counted on to be in the bottom five or ten in virtually any of these categories. The defense of saying that the latest tax cut only made a record deficit “only a little worse” is not a compelling argument — and in fact, quite silly. But you get a lot of that sort of thinking here in Oklahoma.
The cold-hearted governor of Oklahoma has no concept or care as to the amount of pain and suffering she has caused the state. Her unprecedented tax cuts to the most wealthy and the tax credits to the biggest companies while taking away funds from the youngest, the oldest, the sickest and the neediest.
Mary Fallin, the Oklahoma governor with no morals, no intellect and no heart. Her legacy will be her ignorance and greed.
If our state officials are so concerned about having a lower tax rate to attract BIG business as the Governor Fallin states … then why isn’t GE here instead of Boston … Apparently she didn’t politic enough soon enough to have them (GE) consider us as a location