The Oklahoma Senate approved two bills Wednesday designed to provide more scrutiny and oversight of some of the hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of state tax credits. Both bills by Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman (R-Sapulpa) now go to the House for consideration.
State Sen. Rick Brinkley (R-Owasso) says there's more of an urgency to take a serious look at tax credits this session because of the 611 million dollar budget shortfall, and that this new legislation would provide hard data for lawmakers to analyze.
“In the past, there was not a mechanism for the real evaluation of that tax credit, which caused everyone who receives that tax credit to be afraid,” Brinkley said. “The only people who could possibly be afraid of this bill are those who are afraid we’re going to find out that their tax credit does not work.”
Brinkley said so far he hasn't heard of any opposition to the measures.
The first bill would create a seven-member panel of economists, state officials and lay people to examine various tax credits and determine their effectiveness.
The committee would be required to evaluate every state tax incentive at least once every four years. It applies to any state tax credits, exemptions, deductions or rebates.
“Right now we have $1.7 billion in incentives out there,” Brinkley said. “What we need to do is be able to evaluate that they’re doing what they were created to do, if they’re creating jobs, if they’re bringing in money that would not otherwise be coming into the state.”
The other measure requires future tax credits to have a clearly stated goal so their effectiveness can be measured.
Brinkley says societal changes and diversification has changed the economic conditions enough to warrant revisiting many incentives created decades ago.
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