Edmondson open to state question on well tax
Drew Edmondson, Democratic candidate for governor, said Thursday he would consider calling for a state question to raise the gross production tax if lawmakers refuse to implement his education funding plan.
Despite the tax rate on oil and gas production being a hot-button issue at the Oklahoma Capitol, lawmakers this year raised the discounted rate on new wells from 2 percent to 5 percent while in the throes of a debate on teacher pay.
Edmondson has called for raising the rate to 7 percent, which is what producers now pay three years after production begins.
The former state attorney general said he would use revenue from that source to boost overall education spending, along with increasing the cigarette tax and eliminating the capital gains tax deduction.
He said his plan would raise $300 million.
Those ideas aren’t new in the race for governor, which pits Edmondson against Republican Kevin Stitt and Libertarian Chris Powell. OnThursday, however, Edmondson released details of an education plan that focuses on reducing class sizes, raising cash
textbooks, properly staffing guidance counselors and other issues that he learned from talking with teachers on the campaign trail.
Edmondson was joined by David Boren, former University of Oklahoma president and state governor, who endorsed Edmondson for the state’s top position and hailed his “good judgment and political courage.”
“We can’t afford to take a chance in this year’s governor’s race,” said Boren. “There’s no margin for error.
“We need to elect someone who has a proven track record for standing up to special interests and getting the right things done for Oklahoma.”
Edmondson said he realizes that raising the gross production tax rate will be difficult, more so than the other two sources of revenue he wants.
Asked whether he would demand a special session if lawmakers didn’t approve his funding package, Edmondson joked that an idea like that was “jumping way ahead.”
“The cigarette tax, the additional 50 cents, has already passed once; it just didn’t get the 75 percent (supermajority vote),” Edmondson said. “We’re going to have a new Legislature in 2019 and if you looked at the results of those runoff elections, six out of seven incumbent Republicans who voted against the revenue measure were defeated by other Republicans.”
Tax hikes introduced in the Legislature require support of at least 75 percent
of lawmakers in both chambers.
Edmondson also noted that his proposal on eliminating the capital gains tax deduction passed the Oklahoma Senate but stalled in the House.
Unlike the cigarette tax, it only needs a simple majority of more than 50 percent support.
Politically, the hardest part of his agenda to pass would likely be increasing the gross production tax rate again, just a year after lawmakers raised it from 2 percent to 5 percent.
“I’m asking them to put it on back where it was at 7 percent. That’s not going to be an easy sell, and it may not happen right away,” he said. “If the Legislature opts not to do that and I can’t convince them to do it, I’m going to see to it that it’s on the ballot and give the voters an opportunity to
say where the gross production tax ought to be. And I think the voters will pass it.”
Stitt responded, saying he’s called for teachers to be paid competitive wages.
“Over the past year, our state revenue has grown by more than $1 billion, and our economy is making a comeback. In the next few weeks, we will also begin to see the impact from tax increases passed earlier this year,” Stitt said in a statement posted on his website. “Yet, my opponent is already calling for even more taxes on hardworking Oklahomans.
“In a Stitt administration, we will make it a priority to invest more in education, but it starts by assessing new state revenue at hand, diversifying our economy, and delivering accountability across our state budget.”