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Oklahoma legislators betray taxpayers; Coburn launches taxpayer revolt

NOTE: I will be on 1170 KFAQ with Pat Campbell at 7:05 am on Wednesday, March 28, 2018 to discuss the tax increases passed by the Oklahoma House of Representatives last night and the path forward. Listen live on 1170kfaq.com or on the Tune In app. Later the interview will...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 27, 2018 7:07 PM

SQ 640 and raising taxes in Oklahoma

Last week the Oklahoma House approved HJR 1050 by a bare majority of 51 votes, pushed by the Chambercrat House Leadership, voting to erode the constitutional protection against tax increases without approval of the voting public. These 51 representatives, including two, Leslie Osborn and Glen Mulready, who are seeking higher...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 21, 2018 11:07 PM

Oklahoma Growth and Opportunity Summit

If you're perplexed by all the wrangling and bickering at the State Capitol over budgets and taxation, here's an opportunity to hear specific facts and numbers from experts and analysts. It's tomorrow, starting at 9 a.m., but there's still time to register and attend. Registration is $20. I'm particularly looking...

Posted by Michael Bates on February 23, 2018 6:06 PM

Fallin budget veto reaction

On Friday, the Oklahoma Legislature approved a budget compromise that funded essential services, cut spending in other areas, and avoided raising taxes entirely. Later the same day, Gov. Mary Fallin used her line-item veto to remove all of the bill except for funding for the three agencies that would have...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 21, 2017 1:55 AM

Rep. George Faught: House measure fills the budget hole

Muskogee State Rep. George Faught has posted a vigorous defense of his "no" vote on the HB 1054 tax increases. Faught states that the House has already passed bills filling the current budget hole without raising taxes; the Senate can choose to take these bills up and pass them. Faught...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 9, 2017 11:26 PM

Rep. Tom Gann: Set a tone of transparency, integrity

Oklahoma State Rep. Tom Gann, one of the votes against the proposed tax increase package, analyzes the state budget crisis from his perspective as an auditor. Oklahoma House of Representatives Communications & Public Affairs Nov. 9, 2017 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: State Rep. Tom Gann Office: (405) 557-7364 Tone at...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 9, 2017 5:29 PM

2017 Tulsa election: Proposition 7: Ineffective spending constraint

The seventh of the seven charter change propositions on the City of Tulsa November 14, 2017, ballot would add language to the City Charter with the intent of preventing the money from the public safety tax approved in April 2016 to be spent on any other purpose. Here are direct...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 9, 2017 9:05 AM

Kevin Calvey: "Tax Increases Just Cover Up Corruption"

Yesterday, a proposal intended to increase taxes on beer, cigarettes, and gasoline and to increase the gross production tax on the oil industry to fill Oklahoma's budget gap failed to get the three-quarters majority in the State House required to put the taxes into effect without a vote of the...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 9, 2017 8:05 AM

Oklahoma FY17 budget agreement announced

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman, and House Speaker Jeff Hickman have announced a budget agreement. Under the plan, total appropriations for the 2016-2017 fiscal year (FY17) will be $6,778,186,009, down about 1% from the revised FY16 appropriation of $6,845,994,842, and down about 5% from the...

Posted by Michael Bates on May 24, 2016 5:37 PM

Pat Key, who puts obstacles in the way of public access to public information, is tired of budget transparency talk

Tulsa County Clerk Pat Key says she is tired of Tulsa County Assessor Ken Yazel's annual push for budget transparency. Yazel has repeatedly voted against the county's budget, saying it does not provide a complete accounting of all county revenues and expenditures. He made the same argument Monday, and again,...

Posted by Michael Bates on June 12, 2014 2:04 AM

Mayoral flashback: When Bartlett didn't blame Taylor for the Tulsa budget mess

Here is the monthly sales tax news release from Mayor Dewey F. Bartlett Jr's office, dated February 5, 2010. This is two months after Bartlett Jr was sworn in, just shy of three months after he was elected mayor in 2009. Please especially note the final paragraph, which I've highlighted...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 13, 2013 1:43 AM

Tom Coburn statement on "fiscal cliff" deadlock

Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn issued this statement Sunday evening, December 30, 2012, regarding negotiations over the renewal of expiring tax cuts approved during the George W. Bush Administration. Emphasis added: No agreement has been reached because too many politicians in Washington want to raise taxes in order to grow the...

Posted by Michael Bates on December 30, 2012 11:30 PM

Tony Robbins does Iowahawk on how to fund federal spending

If the government seized all the mansions in Beverly Hills, the cost of every Super Bowl ad and the salaries and winnings of every major league athlete, the wealth of the Forbes 400 and the global profits of the Fortune 500, how long would it finance federal spending? Blogger Iowahawk...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 30, 2012 6:11 PM

What would the Boehner Plan achieve?

Earlier today, I had the privilege of participating in a teleconference, along with a half-dozen other Tulsa area activists, with Oklahoma 1st District Congressman John Sullivan and Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan regarding House Speaker John Boehner's proposal (officially known as the Budget Control Act of 2011) for raising the debt...

Posted by Michael Bates on July 29, 2011 12:35 AM