Budget summit stalemate: Oklahoma leaders clash over income tax cuts
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KOKH) — If you thought third time's the charm with state leaders negotiating the budget, unfortunately you were wrong.
Governor Stitt held day three of his budget summit on Monday with House and Senate leadership.
The main argument still revolved around whether to give Oklahomans an income tax cut, either by a quarter of a point or a flat tax.
Tensions were high in the meeting, with no sign of agreement in sight.
The Governor spent two hours at the table asking the main question he wanted a clear answer to.
“Mr. Speaker, will you vote on, will you talk about an income tax cut with your chamber?” The Speaker of the House responded that his chamber will.
Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat didn't have the same response.
“I think it’s somewhat laughable that you look at the Speaker and say will you do one? That’s obviously a setup just to make me look bad," Pro Tem Treat said.
In a meeting that turned out to be the House and Governor vs. the Senate, the income tax question came up multiple times.
The Pro Tem diverted answering, saying his caucus decided on grocery tax at the beginning of the session.
The Governor still pushed for a vote on an income tax cut, which was not well received.
“Governor I’m telling you like I’ve been saying since day one, you don’t run the Senate chamber. I decide what goes up for a vote on the Senate floor," the Pro Tem said.
The Speaker then thought he'd take his chances at asking the same question.
“I just need to know, is the Senate going to support some version of a personal income tax this session that would be part of this budget?" he said. The Pro Tem emphatically responded, "No."
Cutting off the conversation on tax cuts, the legislature ultimately went line by line on the budget numbers.
They did not reach a final agreement but have to constitutionally come up with a budget by May 31st.
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