Tulsa Chamber Stressing Revenue Neutral Income Tax Cuts
Tulsa Chamber cool to tax cuts
BY RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writer
Friday, April 12, 2013
Education, health care and economic development incentives took priority over income tax cuts at the Tulsa Regional Chamber legislative breakfast Friday morning.
“(We) would ask for caution when looking into reducing income tax rates,” said Chris Benge, the former Oklahoma speaker of the House who is now senior now vice president of governmental affairs for the Chamber. “We would very much stress revenue neutrality.”
The dozen or so Tulsa-area legislators in attendance seemed to generally agree with that sentiment. None made an impassioned case for an income tax cut, while several urged additional funding for such things as education and the Oklahoma State University Medical Center.
A reduction in the state income tax rate is a priority for Gov. Mary Fallin and some legislative leaders, but how to achieve that tax cut has proven more difficult than many would have imagined when Republicans took control of the governor’s office and won large majorities in the House and Senate in 2010.