AP: Fallin Tax Proposals Face Rocky Road in Oklahoma Legislature
Fallin tax proposals face rocky road in Oklahoma Legislature
By SEAN MURPHY, Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Gov. Mary Fallin’s ambitious proposal to expand Oklahoma’s sales tax to dozens of services to help balance the budget and raise teacher pay appears on life support just two weeks into the legislative session as her fellow Republicans quickly distance themselves from it.
Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb, a likely candidate for governor in 2018, resigned his position on Fallin’s cabinet over the proposal last week, and other potential candidates for governor and rank-and-file GOP House members have panned the plan as a non-starter.
“While I respect the determination with which Gov. Fallin met her obligation to present a balanced budget to the Legislature, I cannot support her proposed tax increases,” Lamb said in announcing his departure on Thursday.
Fallin’s plan would generate about $840 million to help close a projected $870 million budget hole. It would extend the state sales tax to 164 services that are currently untaxed, including such items as residential utility and cable TV bills, doctor and dentist visits, and engineering and architectural services. Her proposal also calls for hiking the tax on cigarettes and motor fuel, while eliminating the state sales tax on groceries and the corporate income tax.