A group of Republican Oklahoma lawmakers wants to put a hard cap on the state’s zero-emissions tax credit.
Sens. Nathan Dahm and Josh Brecheen and Rep. Jeff Coody propose making the credit, which is popular with wind energy companies, nonrefundable as of Jan. 1, 2019. Dahm said the state needs more money for core services like education, and an annual payout of around $70 million is a good place to start looking.
"Maybe we do need to raise taxes. Maybe so. But we haven’t addressed the reforms first. We need to address all the reforms first, take care of all those things, do away with all the carve-outs, all the special deals, all the special exemptions," Dahm said.
Brecheen tried twice Friday to amend a bill dealing with online sales taxes to instead change the zero-emissions credit but was unsuccessful. He said considering Oklahoma's obligations over the next decade, a hard cap like he, Dahm and Coody propose is preferable.
"They still get the $500 million to $750 million if [lawmakers] do a soft cap of $35 million, for example. That other $35 million that they may not get paid out this year just gets paid out in year 11, 12, 13, 14," Brecheen said.
Dahm is also authoring a measure dedicating any savings from no longer paying the refunds to schools.
"We could have this resolution passed by Thursday that the monies would go to education," Dahm said.
To get their proposal moving, Brecheen and Coody have offered it as an amendment to Senate Bill 888, which originally ended a tax credit on ethanol sales. The amended bill was passed by the House Appropriations and Budget Committee meeting Monday.
Dahm has authored Senate Bill 6XX, a second special session measure, to apportion the savings. The legislature has not yet adjourned its second special session of 2017.
