Wrong about taxes

The Democrats’ candidate for governor has a terrible idea to solve a problem that no longer exists. Drew Edmondson wants to raise the gross production tax on oil and natural gas to 7 percent.

In the past two legislative sessions, shrinking state revenue meant a budget deficit, cuts to critical state services and difficulty funding a teacher pay raise. Legislators squeezed more money from the state’s most important industry — oil and gas — including raising the gross production tax 150 percent.

Statewide officials now expect to have $1 billion in additional revenue. A prudent leader would root out fraud and abuse, strategically decide where to invest resources and determine how we save for the next downturn. Instead, Edmondson hopes to tax the energy industry more and more. His

plan would harm the companies that employ one in six workers in Oklahoma and drive economic development to other states. It also would make the state even more dependent on volatile commodity prices, which is unwise.

Our state’s next leader must find ways to insulate taxpayers from the next crash, not set them up to be victims again. Edmondson can’t be trusted to head Oklahoma’s government.

Chad Warmington, Oklahoma City

Warmington is president of the Oklahoma Oil & Gas Association.