Oklahoma Senate Approves Income Tax Bill

The Oklahoma Senate has approved a bill to
slash and eventually eliminate the state’s personal income tax over
the objection of Democrats who maintain it will decimate funding
for critical state services.
The Senate voted 30-17 on Monday, mostly along party lines, for
a bill that will immediately slash the top state income tax from
5.25 percent to 2.5 percent, beginning in January. Based on a study
by conservative economist Arthur Laffer, the bill continues to cut
the income tax by one-quarter of 1 percent until it’s eliminated by
2022.
Republicans maintain cutting the state’s income tax rate will
make Oklahoma more appealing to businesses and industry and grow
the state’s tax base. Democrats argue Laffer’s economic projections
are over-inflated and that cutting the tax will threaten state
services.