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 be posted on Pat Campbell's podcast page.

I'm disappointed but not surprised that the tax-eaters finally got their three-quarter billion dollar tax increase through the State House, with the largest tax bill, HB1010XX, passing by a vote of 79 to 19, a margin sufficient to bypass the constitutional requirement for ratification by a vote of the people in November. The proposal was introduced late in the afternoon and was passed a few hours later. In order to give the public a look at the bill before the vote, State Rep. Jason Murphey put the bill online, when it wasn't yet available on the official legislature website.

HB1010XX raises taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel (3 and 6 cents per gallon, respectively), on little cigars, cigarettes ($1 a pack), chewing tobacco (10%), and hotel rooms ($5 per day -- the definition of hotel is broad enough to affect campers at church camps and spiritual retreats like Falls Creek, and it looks broad enough to me to affect apartment renters, too; tribal casino hotels are, of course, exempt). The Gross Production Tax will increase from 2% to 5%. Another bill caps itemized deductions, effectively raising income taxes on middle-class Oklahomans.

If the bills pass the Senate, they will go into effect 90 days after the governor signs them into law. The 90-day delay was included in the constitutional process for tax increases to give citizens time to put a repeal of the tax on the ballot through the initiative petition process before the tax goes into effect.

The phenomenon I described in my previous piece, the dynamic that makes it easier for legislators to raise taxes than to root out waste, was in full effect yesterday. After the vote, it was disgusting to watch Republican legislators congratulating themselves on the tremendous achievement of passing a massive tax increase "for the first time in state history since 1990." At the very least, they ought to regard the vote as an admission of failure: After a decade of full Republican control, they had failed to clean up the state's finances and had to resort to a tax increase to fund teachers' raises, capitulating to a tiny Democratic minority's wish list of taxes and spending to get the votes they needed.

Why? Because the Republican legislative leadership and Governor Fallin have refused to work with the principled members of their caucus who insist on following the Republican Party platform and restraining the size and scope of government. Because these Republican elected officials refused to pursue any of the many proposals offered by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA), the free-market, small-government think-tank, to raise teachers' salaries without raising taxes.

There seems to be genuine resentment and disdain on the part of the legislative leadership and the governor toward these principled organizations and individuals. I hear that legislative leaders refuse to work with OCPA and refuse to work with the Platform Caucus.

Remember when you were a teenager, the way you felt when your mom or dad or some other adult authority figure logically dismantled your carefully crafted excuses for not doing the right thing? I suspect that's the way legislative leaders feel about OCPA. They like the OCPA as much as the emperor liked the little boy who pointed out that his beautiful new clothes were non-existent.

One excuse I've heard is that one of OCPA's proposals last year required repurposing money in the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust fund in a way not expressly on the list of spending purposes permitted by Article 10, Section 40, of the state constitution.

Instead of changing the Oklahoma Constitution to make it easier to raise taxes, why not change the constitution and statutes to make it easier for the tax dollars we already send to the State Capitol and the county courthouses to get where they're really needed?

Oklahomans may have the impression (fed by sloppy reporting) that there's one big pot of tax money from which all state and local government expenditures are drawn. In fact, there are hundreds, maybe thousands of pots, large and small, earmarked for a specific purpose. That means that in the same year core governmental functions funded from the general fund are squeezed by revenue shortfalls, agencies with dedicated revenues may have far more money than they need.

The lazy legislator looks at that situation and says, "We have to put more money in the big general fund pot." What we need is for legislators to look at where money is going and where it is needed and then do the hard work of changing laws and constitutional provisions so the tax dollars we're already paying will go where they are needed.

Will that take a long time? Probably. Will it be hard work? Undoubtedly, with a lot of digging into details of budgets and spending and laws. Will it make some people angry? Certainly, especially those agency leaders who will lose their cushy earmarked funds and have to justify all of their spending each year. But hard work and making people angry is not a legitimate reason for legislators to avoid doing something. It's why we elected them.

(We did not, however, elect them so they could experience the Joy of Sex with new people they meet at the State Capitol. Some legislators over the years have been confused on this point. I suspect that confusion has led to moral compromise which has made said legislators more susceptible to compromising on their professed political principles.)

We should also expect our legislators to do the hard work of investigating and auditing state agencies, school districts, colleges, and other taxpayer funded entities and then implementing reforms in response to those audits. It is a difficult task, and it will make certain people feel threatened and angry, but legislators have a moral obligation to ensure that the tax dollars we entrust to them are wisely spent.

Of the 17 State House members who had taken the Taxpayer Protection Pledge for their current term of office, only 6 voted to uphold that pledge. The Taxpayer Protection Pledge for state legislators simply reads: "I, ____, pledge to the taxpayers of the State of Oklahoma, that I will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes."

Here is the list of Oklahoma House pledge-breakers on HB1010XX: Earl Sears, Dustin Roberts, Josh Cockroft, Dennis Casey, Leslie Osborn, Charles Ortega, Mike Sanders, Scooter Park, Randy McDaniel, Chris Kannady, Michael Rogers. State Sen. Kim David is the Senate sponsor of the bill; her sponsorship makes her a pledge-breaker as well. I am happy that they took this step before the filing period for state office next month, and I hope challengers are ready to oppose them and the rest of the 51 Republicans who voted in favor of the biggest tax increase in nearly 30 years.

Even though Republican House leaders and their weak-willed followers voted to violate the party platform because of their failure to manage our tax dollars wisely, Oklahoma's affiliate of the leftist National Education Association is still planning an illegal strike on Monday because their entire list of demands were not satisfied. If the strike happens despite this massive tax increase, it will reveal the union as utterly unreasonable and should inspire support for repeal of the tax increases by the voters and defeat of the proposed constitutional amendment that would make it easier for the legislature to raise taxes without a vote of the people.

I'm happy to see conservative activists fired up to fight this tax increase. Steve Fair, a longtime grassroots leader in the Oklahoma Republican Party and former Republican National Committeeman, notes with disgust that no reforms of our tax-funded education system were required in exchange for these new taxes.

The disappointing thing is once again the education lobby won because self-described fiscal conservatives in control of the legislature caved. Education didn't have to agree to consolidate administrative services, school districts, or submit to comprehensive audits of school districts. They just threatened to walk-out and lawmakers caved. No Oklahoman disputes teachers in Oklahoma deserve a raise, but so do the butchers, bakers and candlestick makers. Unfortunately, those people can't afford to stage a walk-out because they can't afford to take the day off. They have to work to pay their taxes.

Former U. S. Senator Tom Coburn, renowned for his fight against government waste in Washington, will keynote the launch of a new organization, Oklahoma Taxpayers Unite!, tomorrow, March 28, 2018, at the State Capitol:

Fiscal hawk and Taxpayers' friend, Senator Tom Coburn, will announce the formation of a new Taxpayers' coalition to take the fight to the legislative tax hogs, oath breakers and Political Class.

Oklahoma Taxpayers are fed up with legislative leadership that seeks first to raise taxes and refuses to make the structural, transformational reforms that fiscal responsibility requires. With HB1010XX, passed under duress and rules suspension March 26, the majority of the House of Representatives has chosen the path of more taxation instead of reform.

Oklahoma Taxpayers Unite! is a coalition of Oklahoma Taxpayers -- civic leaders, concerned citizens, grassroots activists, and party leaders, working together, demanding constitutional, ethical, transparent, and fiscally responsible governance for the Oklahoma Taxpayers. Reminiscent of the group known as "Stop New Taxes" which almost repealed HB 1017 28 years ago with a referendum petition, and then Oklahoma Taxpayers' Union, which successfully passed SQ 640, the new coalition reflects the disgust and anger with a Governor and legislature that has refused to lead, opting for new taxes instead.

Of the 79 House members who voted for new taxes, 11 of them previously signed a pledge for their entire term of office with Americans for Tax Reform, "to oppose [and vote against] any efforts to increase taxes." Apparently, their word means nothing. Two of the oath-breakers are running for higher office in 2018. Seven members of the Senate signed the same pledge.

Oklahoma Taxpayers Unite! will offer its 7-point Taxpayers Platform for all incumbents and candidates to pledge to on their Word of Honor.

At a time of life and with a record of accomplishment that would justify a quiet retirement, it's commendable that Tom Coburn would be willing to devote his time and his credibility to fixing waste in Oklahoma state government. May God grace us with more men and women of his integrity to serve in our State Capitol.