About two-thirds of Oklahoma voters in a new poll favor income tax increases to deal with the state budget crisis.
Gene Perry with Oklahoma Policy Institute said 67 percent of those surveyed want a top rate of 6.65 percent restored for individuals earning more than $150,000 and couples earning more than $300,000.
"That would bring about $150 million into the budget," Perry said. It's not, obviously, the only thing we'll need to do to fix a $1.3 billion shortfall, but it could be a big help."
Just 15 percent of those surveyed said cutting funding should be lawmakers’ priority in addressing the state budget shortfall. The poll also found 62 percent of Oklahoma voters want this year’s income tax rate canceled or delayed because of the shortfall.
Perry said so far, lawmakers have said stopping the income tax cut and similar measures aren’t politically possible.
"But we're not really hearing a lot of good arguments for why that might be," Perry said. "So, we see that majorities of Oklahomans want it, including Republicans and Democrats, so what's really stopping them at this point?"
At the same time, 59 percent don’t favor a proposal to end credits like the earned income and child tax credits. Perry said that plan increases taxes on a family of four making $35,000 a year by $180, while the most recent tax cut gives them $9.
"It really is a very lopsided approach that is going after these working families making lower wages," Perry said.
The poll surveyed 500 registered voters. They self-identified as 32 percent Democrats, 40 percent Republicans and 28 percent Independents.
