Stitt Calls Special Session for Tax Cuts

On January 16 Governor Kevin Stitt called for a special session of Oklahoma’s 59th Legislature beginning January 29, 2024, to seek a .25% reduction in the personal income tax.

Governor Stitt issued the following statement along side his executive order:

“From day one, I’ve called on the Legislature to give Oklahomans a much deserved tax cut," said Governor Stitt. "With record-breaking savings and a strong economic outlook, there's no time like the present to deliver a pay raise to all Oklahomans. Let’s get this across the finish line before we head into regular session."

A copy of Executive Order 2024-01 containing the call for Special Session may be found here: https://www.sos.ok.gov/documents/executive/2094.pdf

Legislative Leaders responded to the call:

Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat:

“It is disappointing the governor would call another special session,” Pro Tem Treat said. “I met with the governor and Speaker McCall Thursday. The governor laid out his intentions for a special session regarding tax cuts. I outlined to the governor, we will not know how much money the state will have to spend on a tax cut until the Board of Equalization meets to certify budget numbers in mid-February.

“It is unfortunate the governor has chosen this route. The Senate will adhere to the call of the special session, as we have always done to respect and uphold our constitutional duty. However, I do not know what will be different between the last week in January and the last time he pulled this stunt in October.”

House Speaker Charles McCall:

“House Republicans will do their constitutional duty and answer the governor’s call to special session. We will be ready to pass meaningful tax relief legislation for the hardworking people of Oklahoma as we previously have in multiple special and regular sessions.” (via NonDoc.com)

House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson:

"The Governor’s call for a Special Session to cut income taxes is just his latest political stunt, and it is not a genuine attempt to lower costs for Oklahoma families. We have not even completed our agency budget hearings to gain a comprehensive understanding of our state's fiscal picture, including the potential loss of federal dollars post-Covid.

We will have four months beginning February 5 to deliberate fiscal and policy ideas. Our job as legislators is to work through these important issues, as we are called to do every year. Instead, the Governor is asking us to waste time and taxpayer dollars by throwing ideas at the wall to see what sticks. It is unwise and fiscally irresponsible to ask the Legislature to haphazardly cut revenue.

Why does the Governor insist we keep doing what we’ve been doing when it hasn’t worked? It is time to invest in Oklahoma."

Senate Minority Leader Kay Floyd:

“We’re still analyzing the figures from December’s initial certification by the Board of Equalization and won’t get the final certification numbers until mid-February. We have not yet concluded budget hearings with state agencies. That information and additional data are critical to this discussion. To undertake statewide, comprehensive tax reform in five days, without committee work and public vetting and input, would serve no other purpose than to place politics over policy. The governor’s call for a special session just one week before the regular session begins does not serve the best interest of this state or its citizens.”

This is the third special session of the Fifty-Ninth Oklahoma Legislature, and the second called by Governor Stitt as it relates to the subject of taxation. In May of 2023, the legislature called itself into a concurrent special session for the purposes of passing budget related matters. Governor Stitt filed a lawsuit against the legislature (Stitt v. Treat) in which the Governor challenged the constitutionality of concurrent special sessions.

McSpadden Milner Rott will update this page as this situation develops.