Organizers of an effort to roll back tax increases approved by the Legislature to help fund a teacher pay raise say they're abandoning their effort.
Oklahoma Taxpayers Unite organizer Ronda Vuillemont-Smith said Monday the state Supreme Court's recent decision to toss out their ballot initiative didn't leave the group enough time to gather the 42,000 signatures they needed to place the question on the November ballot.
The anti-tax group led by ex-U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn was seeking a public vote to repeal tax hikes on cigarettes, fuel and energy production.
But the Supreme Court ruled a description of the proposal on signature pages was insufficient and that its ballot title is misleading. The court said the group would have to start over and gather new signatures by July 18.
The group said it will turn its attention to supporting candidates through the rest of the 2018 election season.