Budget Issues Addressed
State budget-shortfall fears addressed at Tulsa Regional Chamber event
By RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writer
Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, warned Wednesday of a possible state revenue shortfall this budget year, while House Speaker T.W. Shannon said an income tax cut scheduled for 2015 should have been implemented immediately.
The two legislative leaders addressed the Tulsa Regional Chamber on the 2014 legislative agenda.
“The tax cut we passed we delayed it a year,” said Shannon, R-Lawton. “I am confident if we had not done that we would have seen an increase in revenue.”
Bingman, who has demonstrated a more cautious approach to revenue and tax cuts, noted that general fund allocations for the first quarter of the current budget year are more than 8 percent lower than expectations and 4 percent less than the same period a year ago.