OKC lawmaker wants alcohol taxes spent on health care
A freshman lawmaker has proposed taking a slice of alcohol tax revenue to spend on health care.
State Rep. Forrest Bennett, D-Oklahoma City, tweeted Thursday that he will file legislation to take a small portion of alcohol sales taxes and send it to services for the uninsured and underinsured.
His bill targets the mixed beverage tax, which now all goes into the state’s general fund. Five percent would instead be put into an uncompensated care fund, which has been cut because of budget shortfalls.
In previous years, money from the fund would help health care providers that treated patients without enough insurance. Bennett told The Oklahoman that it would be a good funding source because of the passage last year of State Question 792, which expands the kinds of businesses that can sell alcohol.
Turbines to teachers
Another first-year legislator, state Sen. Micheal Bergstrom, wants to cap tax incentives given to the wind energy industry and divert the savings to a teacher pay raise.
In a news release, Bergstrom wrote that Senate Bill 95 would cap the tax credit used for wind energy production at $25 million. Once the state allocates that much money, no other credit could be claimed for the year.
“Our program for encouraging the generation of electricity through wind has been successful; however, especially considering the difficult situation we find the state in, with an $868 million revenue shortfall, we can no longer afford these overly generous tax credits,” Bergstrom wrote.
There is no cap on the wind production tax credit, and about $60 million was paid out in 2014. Bergstrom’s separate teacher pay raise bill would be partially supported by savings from the cap, he said.
Bergstrom, R-Adair, said his bill would raise salaries by $5,000 over the next three years.
State of emergency
In two executive orders Thursday, Gov. Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency throughout Oklahoma ahead of a winter storm warning.
Her order lifted some transportation regulations on relief trucks that may be needed to help clean up parts of the state affected by ice and heavy rain. She also activated the State Emergency Operations Plan.
In one of her orders, Fallin wrote that all state agencies available to meet the emergency can use resources to protecting life, prevent damage and make repairs.
State Rep. Forrest Bennett’s bill targets the mixed beverage tax, which now all goes into the state’s general fund. Five percent would instead be put into an uncompensated care fund, which has been cut because of budget shortfalls.