Oklahoma Watch (https://oklahomawatch.org/tag/oklahoma-sales-tax/)
Although Republican legislative leaders introduced the session’s first big-ticket revenue bills this week, opposition to smaller measures could signal a difficulty passing larger ones before the Legislature’s May 25 deadline to adjourn.
As the 2017 legislative session enters its final phase, House GOP leaders’ strategies to bridge the $878 million shortfall are slowly coming into focus.
At the one-quarter mark of the 2017 legislative session, lawmakers have a number of unresolved issues — chiefly the $878 million budget gap for next fiscal year. But many Republicans want to look at possible spending and tax-break cuts before they decide on revenue-raising ideas.
New campaign finance reports reveal for the first time the primary funders behind opposition to last year’s state question proposing a 1-cent sales tax for education. The reports also show that backers of the penny tax, which was shot down by voters in November, outspent their opposition more than seven to one.
Millions of dollars will be spent in the coming months in an effort to convince Oklahomans to vote for or against the education sales tax. What voters don’t know is where the money being spent is coming from.
A proposed penny sales tax increase for education would push Oklahoma to the top of the list of states with the highest combined state and local sales taxes.