A day after Gov. Mary Fallin chastised lawmakers for a lack of progress in closing Oklahoma's $878 million budget gap, the Senate sent her four bills worth a total estimated $7.4 million in new revenue next year.
One of those bills given final passage by the Senate, however, won’t have an impact until 2023. House Bill 2358 ends a fuel tax discount on July 1, 2022. Senator Roger Thompson said the discount was instituted to benefit retailers doing all the administrative work.
"The local who provided the retail end collected the tax, filled out the paperwork, sent it all the way back in, they were able to keep 1.6 percent," Thompson said. "They have not done that since 1996."
In 1995, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled gas and diesel taxes could no longer be collected at the retail level, but retailers continued getting the discount. HB2358 gives them a five-year period to prepare for the discount's end.
The bill adding fees to Drillers, Roughnecks and Thunder tickets was among the new revenue measures passed Thursday by the state Senate. House Bill 2361 adds a $1 fee to pro sports tickets costing $50 or less and a $2 to tickets costing more than $50.
"This is terrible policy. We had a sales tax out here that would equitably distribute the load of taxes on these professional tickets," said Senate Democratic Leader John Sparks.
The switch to a per-ticket fee came after lawmakers met with Thunder representatives. It’s estimated the bill, which passed 26–18, will bring in almost $2.7 million next year.
Another bill passed Thursday would make it more expensive for companies not complying with state franchise tax laws. The Oklahoma Tax Commission may suspend those businesses for not filing reports or paying taxes due on time.
House Bill 2357 increases the fee for reinstatement from $15 to $150.
"The Oklahoma Tax Commission has been working fervently with these businesses, trying to keep them in compliance, and this is certainly afterward," Thompson said. "So, they've already expended way in excess of $15, and I think this harmonizes some of the actual costs for the state of Oklahoma."
That fee is in addition to taxes owed. The measure is expected to increase state revenues $775,000 next year.
The other measure passed by the Senate was House Bill 2348, which freezes state income tax standard deductions at the current rates and "decouples" them from the federal income tax standard deduction. That means Oklahoma's standard deduction would not increase in the future when the federal one does.
HB2348 would mean an additional $4.4 million in revenue for the state. It passed 39–6 without questions or debate.
