• Two GOP gubernatorial candidates came out Wednesday against coalition’s plan
Two Republican gubernatorial candidates came out Wednesday against the revenue and reform plan developed by state business leaders, with one suggesting it be called “Pay Up Oklahoma.”
Candidates Gary Richardson, a Tulsa attorney, and Kevin Stitt, a Tulsa businessman, said they couldn’t support raising taxes for a state government they consider broken. The Step Up Oklahoma plan would raise about $800 million to fund a $5,000 annual pay raise for teachers and pay for core state services.
Richardson said, “A much more appropriate title for this absurd plan would be ‘Pay Up Oklahoma.’
“I’m shocked to see people calling themselves Republicans while advocating for the largest tax increase in the history of Oklahoma. True conservatives need to rally together, reject the tax hikes that fund corporate welfare and elect a Republican governor who is truly dedicated to the principles of the party.”
Stitt said, “I respect the business people who developed the Step Up Oklahoma package, but I do not believe an $800 million tax increase is the answer to fixing a broken state government.
Stitt said Oklahomans he has met at town hall meetings around the state are “adamantly against tax increases.”
“While I like elements of Step Up Oklahoma’s reforms, I believe we must start by recruiting new leaders — not more career politicians — to serve in various levels of government for a season or else we are going to keep getting the same results,” Stitt said.
Other Republican gubernatorial candidates have either rejected the tax hike proposals in the Step Up Oklahoma plan or declined to endorse them. Democratic candidate Drew Edmondson has endorsed some elements, though he wants oil and gas production taxes raised higher than called for by the group. Libertarian gubernatorial candidates Chris Powell and Rex Lawhorn oppose the plan.
Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican, has called on the GOP-led Legislature to consider the Step Up Oklahoma revenue proposals in the ongoing special session.
Step Up Oklahoma’s revenue proposals would hike the state tax on cigarettes and little cigars by $1.50 a pack; raise the tax on oil and gas production; increase gasoline and diesel taxes; implement a tax on renewable energy; and modify Oklahoma income tax rates and deductions to affect mostly top earners.
The nearly $800 million raised by the package would fund a $5,000 annual pay raise for teachers and pay for core state services.
Richardson’s campaign is funding an ad on social media and another on radio opposing the Step Up Oklahoma plan.
“We must demand forensic audits of every state agency, expose the waste and end the corruption,” Richardson said. “That is the only lasting solution that will allow us to fund the pay raises our teachers and public employees deserve. Tax hikes will not solve our problems; they will only mask the problems until the next crisis arises.”
The Step Up Oklahoma reform plan includes more budget scrutiny and transparency and would create an independent office modeled after ones that review congressional spending.