Income Tax Cut, Budget Details Emerge
Income tax, budget cuts highlight Oklahoma budget
By TIM TALLEY, Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A one-quarter percent cut in the state income tax and 5 percent budget cuts to most state agencies highlight a budget plan for the upcoming year unveiled Monday by Gov. Mary Fallin’s administration.
The proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 includes almost $114 million in targeted new appropriations for services such as human services, education and public safety. But the $7 billion budget proposes spending about $71 million, or 1.3 percent, less than the current fiscal year, Secretary of Finance Preston Doerflinger said.
“I think it is a conservative budget,” Doerflinger told reporters during a briefing on the governor’s budget plan. “It’s a budget the state could adopt today.”
Fallin outlined the budget plan in her State of the State address to kick off the 2014 Oklahoma Legislature. The proposal will jumpstart discussion among lawmakers on finalizing a budget for the upcoming year before they adjourn May 30.