For much of Oklahoma's history, the conservative fiscal values of Oklahomans were upheld because state officials were unable to issue general bonded indebtedness without first receiving approval through a vote of the people. This is because...
When asked to point out what I believe to be the most wasteful and inappropriate form of government spending, I can answer without hesitation. Without a doubt, it is the extremely inappropriate tendency of government agencies to hire private lobbying...
"We have a LOT of travel! There are a lot of savings to be found in this area." I could hear the excitement in the voice of the State Purchasing Director as he made this statement. He enjoyed the opportunity to save money for taxpayers and he was...
How would you reduce the state budget?To answer this question, I have maintained the following framework for restoring a responsible and fiscally conservative budget -- without increasing taxes. This framework would realize many millions in savings...
Observing the Legislature over the past 11 years have given me much perspective. I now have a tremendous appreciation for those courageous legislators who are willing to defend the taxpayer interests even under the most difficult of...
I have made it a practice to keep on file notable correspondence both written and emailed. From time to time, I go through these archives. Some of this correspondence is quite timeless and still relevant.I encountered the text of one such letter as I...
Longtime readers will know that from the time of my election in 2006 until a few years ago I was quite bullish on the potential for legislative transparency.During that time, in each and every legislative session, I could point to notable and...
It was the last straw. For years, an area-based business owner had managed to deal with the stressful and potentially punitive sales tax collection requirements of the state, but a fiscally foolish decision by the governor and this year's state...
by Rep. Jason Murphey "This has to be a mistake!" That was my first thought as I stared up at the monitor in the Appropriations Committee hearing room. The committee was just starting to consider the 2018 appropriations bill -- a bill that was supposed to be House Bill...
Would you believe that the House Appropriations Committee approved the 2018 state budget without reading a single word of the bill? Surely such an astounding statement would cause you to question the very sanity of the system the State of Oklahoma...
As this legislative year concluded, those who had been trying to raise taxes gave up on all but the smallest pretense of following the Constitution. Although they had tried and successfully passed many increases, the cumulative effect of these...
Though far removed from reality, the legislative world does share some aspects with the real world.Consider the case of the individual who has fallen into the habit of frequent cussing. Upon encountering this individual at Walmart or on the street,...
Over the past weeks, readers of these articles have read about just a few of the tactics utilized by the tax increase idealogues to convince Oklahoma's legislators to betray their values and to increase your taxes.The net effect of these strategies...
It was the moment that left no doubt in my mind: the fix was in. Not only would this not be a year for reform but it would be the worst legislative year of my eleven.Midway through the legislative year, following the conclusion of a House session, a...
This year's legislative session was dominated by a group of "raise taxes at all costs" ideologues who deployed aggressive strategies to advance an array of principle-betraying tax and fee increases upon the people of Oklahoma.Last week I wrote in...
Much of the time and energy of this legislative session was consumed by the push to raise taxes, even if those taxes were unconstitutional.This push was led by a group of "increase taxes at all cost" ideologues who deployed an array of tactics and...
It was the speech that officially launched a new and dangerous ideology: do whatever it takes to raise taxes -- even it it means ignoring the Constitution. In February, the Governor addressed the Legislature and called for an array of new and...
In last week’s article I described my initial optimism for this year's legislative session and detailed the opportunities afforded to this year's legislature. I explained my initial belief that a new generation of legislative leaders were coming...
Perhaps you read these articles a few months ago and took note of my optimism about this year's legislative session. As the legislative year progressed, you likely also noticed my sentiment devolve into strong disapproval. I have imagined the...
As this year's legislative session drew to a close, legislators commenced a rapid fire process of throwing out various tax increase proposals in an apparent attempt to see what they could get before those impacted by the new taxes could engage. This...
As I think back over the recently concluded legislative session, I recall an especially notable moment during one of the frequent tax increase sessions of the Appropriations and Budget Committee. Those who run the committee were bringing forward one...
Over the course of the past several months I have written about an array of tax increases attempted by the legislature. As this year's legislative session has been brought to an end, I thought it a good idea to describe the tax increase attempts that...
Last week I wrote about two new taxes that were recently approved by the Legislature. Because these new taxes did not meet the requirements of the Constitution, I believe they will be thrown out by the courts. The damage from this legislative...
The Legislature has left town and we can now assess the damage from this year's session. With the adoption of their HB 2433, Oklahoma's politicians voted to put a new sales tax on the purchase of new and used cars. Vehicle purchases are already...
The Legislature has left town and we can now assess the damage from this year's session. With the adoption of their HB 2433, Oklahoma's politicians voted to put a new sales tax on the purchase of new and used cars. Vehicle purchases are already...
For the fourth year in a row it has been my responsibility to vote against the state’s general appropriations proposal, commonly referred to as the state budget bill. That’s because for a fourth consecutive year the general appropriations bill...
Last Monday, legislative leaders positioned Oklahoma to join one other state and several left-leaning cities (including Chicago and Pasadena) in enacting a tax on Netflix users and users of other streaming video services including Hulu and Amazon...
Over the past few months, Oklahomans have been alarmed by the numerous tax increase attempts, and rightly so. Everyone loses when government creates new taxes and increases the public tax burden.It's not hyperbole to suggest that the federal, state...
Last week, as a member of the House Appropriations Committee, I voted “No,” on the proposed 35% increase in the state gas tax. Those who suggest Oklahoma should increase the gas tax are using the following reasoning: "Oklahoma has the one of the...
Last week I wrote of the disastrous 2010 revenue grab by the Legislature. Faced with a 1.2 billion dollar budget deficit, they attempted to shake down the vending machine industry through the enactment of an increase in the vending machine tax.The...
House Government Modernization Chairman Jason Murphey today expressed his strongest opposition to the impending introduction of a legislative plan to put a new tax on the use information technology services."Earlier today, Governor Fallin released...
State officials are continuing to consider an array of tax and fee increases. I instinctively know that these taxes and fees will have a traumatic effect on the state's economy and I will oppose them.When the government increases a fee or tax it...
Read the full story on this issue, by clicking on the link below, from Rep. Jason Murphey R-Guthrie
Read the full story on this issue, by clicking on the link below, from Rep. Jason Murphey R-Guthrie
Read the full story on this issue, by clicking on the link below, from Rep. Jason Murphey R-Guthrie
Read the full story on this issue, by clicking on the link below, from Rep. Jason Murphey R-Guthrie
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| CIO: James "Bo" Reese |
