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When state lawmakers
passed a comprehensive budget agreement, we included a four-point tax
relief plan that speeds up state income tax cuts and features extra
relief for parents who stay at home with their children.
Both John F. Kennedy
and Ronald Reagan believed the economy is best served when individual
consumers of all walks of life can pump more of their own money back
into the system. By lowering taxes, we can effectively spark new job
creation, higher profits, better wages - and increased tax collections.
In the past few
years, Oklahoma has seen several budget surpluses due to rising tax
revenues, the positive result of a decreasing tax burden on citizens
and small businesses.
This new tax relief
plan we've passed extends that economic prescription further by returning
more money to the hardworking Oklahoma taxpayers who earned it in the
first place.
Anti-tax relief
groups often claim that lower taxes strain the government's ability
to meet the public's needs. However, many of these same groups receive
funding through government grants (financed by tax dollars), and they
often partner with public employee unions and state agencies to work
against tax cuts.
Granted, taxes play
an important role, funding vital services like law enforcement, fire
protection, infrastructure and education. But when there's a surplus,
it means state government has collected more money than expected and
probably doesn't need to spend it all.
Some surplus money
should be set aside to help with "rainy days" like the budget
shortfall following 9/11. And some should go to state agencies that
are truly under-funded and not just mismanaged. The rest should be returned
to the taxpayers.
These concepts play
an important role in our new tax cut plan. The plan accelerates previously
determined cuts in the state income tax, bringing the rate down to 5.25
percent by 2009. That eases the burden on working families and lets
them put more money back in the economy, a year ahead of schedule.
The childcare tax
credit helps parents who make a financial sacrifice by providing their
children with a full-time parent in the home. About 227,000 Oklahoma
families will qualify for the credit, reaping a combined $13.6 million
each year. The credit applies only to families with minor children and
income of less than $100,000 a year.
Also included in
the plan is a practical elimination of the state's franchise tax on
small businesses. A few would still pay the tax, but most would not.
Small businesses create the majority of jobs in Oklahoma, and an extra
tax at the startup phase only frustrates their efforts, which frustrates
job growth.
Finally, a back-to-school
sales tax holiday during the first full weekend in August will assist
families statewide. It will apply to sales of clothes and shoes costing
less than $100. Oklahoma families will save an estimated $6.4 million
per year on school purchases as a result of the tax break.
The new budget agreement
is a good development for Oklahoma taxpayers and the state as a whole,
and I'm proud to support it.
Earl Sears(R- Bartlesville)
represents the citizens of District 11 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
He can be reached by phone at (918) 336-4855 or via e-mail at earl.sears@okhouse.gov.
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