Law & Principles

Oklahoma legislative session ends with few major accomplishments

May 31, 2024

Ray Carter

Members of the Oklahoma Legislature have adjourned this year’s session, ending the process after passing several lower-tier priorities but having fumbled major issues, which were left to future Legislatures to address.

On two issues in particular, lawmakers failed to address major needs in Oklahoma: judicial-appointment reform and passage of pro-growth tax cuts.

Lawmakers leave Democratic group in charge of state judicial selection

Under Oklahoma’s current judicial-selection process, a governor cannot select his or her own judicial nominees based on merit. Instead, the 15-member Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) controls judicial appointments.

Of the 15 members of the Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission, internal membership elections of the Oklahoma Bar Association select six JNC members. Public records show that nearly 69 percent of individuals appointed to the JNC by the Oklahoma Bar Association from 2000 to today have directed most of their campaign donations to Democrats, including to presidential candidates such as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Since the Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission was established in 1967, the typical judge appointed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court via the JNC process has been consistently liberal, according to data published in the December 2023 edition of the journal “State Politics & Policy Quarterly,” a publication of the American Political Science Association.

Senate Joint Resolution 34, by state Sen. Julie Daniels and state Rep. Mark Lepak, would have removed that partisan tilt from Oklahoma’s judicial-selection process. Instead, SJR 34 would have allowed Oklahoma voters to eliminate the Judicial Nominating Commission and replace it with the U.S. Constitution’s model for judicial selection. Under the replacement system, a governor could select any qualified individual to serve as judge, but legislative confirmation would be required for that person to be seated.

SJR 34 easily passed out of the Oklahoma Senate on a 32-14 vote. But in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, it failed on a 36-60 vote, leaving the Democrat-leaning JNC in control of Oklahoma judicial selection.

Pro-growth tax cuts shelved in favor of massive spending

Lawmakers also failed to advance pro-growth income-tax cuts that would spur greater investment and job creation in Oklahoma.

Gov. Kevin Stitt supported cutting the income tax and putting it on a path to elimination, and members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed bills to do that.

But the leadership of the Oklahoma Senate refused to allow a public vote on income tax cuts in that chamber.

Stitt has noted a flat state budget that maintained all prior-year recurring spending would total $10.8 billion. But the budget passed at the end of this year’s legislative session instead spent $12.47 billion.

Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, declared the budget “fiscally conservative” in a press release.

Stitt’s reaction was more in line with that of the average Oklahoman.

“We overspent again,” Stitt said.

During budget negotiations, Stitt argued for spending restraint and tax cuts.

However, even the bloated total noted by Stitt paled in comparison to the spending spree sought by Senate Republicans, who at one point were seeking $13.72 billion in total spending, according to House estimates during the budget process.

Senate Republicans dismissed concerns about massive spending, claiming much of the extra cash was used for “one time” items. However, those supposedly one-time items included recurring expenses, such as maintenance at state colleges.

Cutting Oklahoma’s top income-tax rate from 4.75 percent to 4.5 percent would have reduced tax collections by only around $250 million annually once fully implemented, and that does not account for revenue generated by greater economic growth. Lawmakers started the year with a $543 million surplus, and prior income-tax cuts have mostly been followed by increased state tax collections.

The failure to cut the state’s personal income tax leaves Oklahoma with one of the highest tax rates in the region and at a competitive disadvantage with surrounding states.

Oklahoma’s current top income-tax rate of 4.75 percent is higher than several neighboring states, including Texas (which has no personal income tax), Arkansas (where the rate is 4.4 percent), and Colorado (4.4 percent), while Missouri’s top rate of 4.8 percent is almost the same as Oklahoma’s rate. Among bordering states, only Kansas and New Mexico have significantly higher personal income-tax rates than Oklahoma.

Rather than pass an income-tax cut, lawmakers voted to shave off the 4.5-percent state sales tax from the purchase of some grocery items, although all groceries remain subject to county and municipal sales taxes.

House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, described income-tax cuts as a missed opportunity, saying there was “room in the budget for the personal-income tax.”

“I would have liked to see the personal income tax be part of the budget,” McCall said. “That was not going to happen. We had to move on from that. The Senate made very clear that they did not want to hear it.”

Stitt expressed a similar view.

“I’m sure politicians can think of 100 things to spend taxpayers’ money on,” Stitt said. “I’m not one of those. I think we should give that back to the taxpayer in the form of a tax cut.”

Democratic lawmakers were also critical of the budget—but argued it should have spent even more taxpayer money.

“This budget missed opportunities to make significant investments in childcare, mental and behavioral health care, and public education,” said House Democratic Leader Cyndi Munson of Oklahoma City.

Pro-family and other issues fare better

Lawmakers did advance other measures that, while not as impactful as JNC repeal and tax cuts, are expected to benefit Oklahomans.

A measure requiring age-verification on porn sites, to prevent minors from accessing those sites, was sent to the governor early in the session.

Lawmakers approved legislation that provides a framework for schools to allow students to take religious or moral instruction from an outside provider during the school day.

Legislators also approved a “Women’s Bill of Rights,” which codifies an executive order signed by Stitt last year, ensuring that men are not granted access to women’s bathrooms and shelters if they claim to identify as women.

A ban on Ranked Choice Voting, which has been associated with widespread voter confusion and election problems elsewhere, won solid support. The measure will help maintain Oklahoma’s current election processes, which are among the most transparent in the nation.

Some legislative success came in the form of measures that did not become law, including: an effort to roll back pension reforms that provided stability to Oklahoma state pensions systems after years of ranking among the nation’s worst-funded pensions; a measure that could have opened the door for businesses to harass conservatives with lawsuits for free-speech activity; and a measure that would have granted utilities greater power to automatically increase rates.