Step Up Plan Defeated In House
Step Up plan defeated in House despite majority vote
by Randy Ellis, Chris Casteel, & Dale Denwalt, NewsOK
The Oklahoma House of Representatives defeated a $581 million package of proposed tax hikes late Monday night — creating more uncertainty about how the Legislature will balance the budget and fund a teacher pay raise.
Although a majority of House members voted in favor of the bill, the tally fell well short of the three-fourths majority needed to pass tax hikes in Oklahoma. The vote was 63 to 35. The bill needed 76 votes to pass. Fifty-three of the 72 Republicans in the House voted for the package, as did 10 of the 28 Democrats. One seat is vacant.
The bill was backed by Step Up Oklahoma, a statewide coalition of Oklahoma business and civic leaders.
The Step Up Plan is a Special Interest Plan to help them selves not the State or the people.