OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Senate has approved a bill to slash and eventually eliminate the state's personal income tax over the objection of Democrats who maintain it will decimate funding for critical state services.
The Senate voted 30-17 on Monday, mostly along party lines, for a bill that will immediately slash the top state income tax from 5.25 percent to 2.5 percent, beginning in January. Based on a study by conservative economist Arthur Laffer, the bill continues to cut the income tax by one-quarter of 1 percent until it's eliminated by 2022.
Republicans maintain cutting the state's income tax rate will make Oklahoma more appealing to businesses and industry and grow the state's tax base. Democrats argue Laffer's economic projections are over-inflated and that cutting the tax will threaten state services.