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In the wee hours of Friday morning, the Oklahoma House Of Representatives stayed up late to abolish a tax policy which former governor Frank Keating fought hard for. The Earned Income Credit has been a way of helping the lower income parents to transition off of government assistance and back to self reliance. But to get the Earned Income Credit, a parent has to hold down a taxpaying job.
But on this day's docket (which spilled over past midnight), The oil producers' lobbyists twisted enough arms at the capitol to get several million in state credits restored to the petroleum industry. And on the same day's agenda, this same body singled out all the lower income parents, to take away a refundable earned income credit averaging around $230 per household, annually. |
Proctor & Enman cited Republican former governor, Frank Keating's effort to help lower income working parents
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SB1604 is a targeted bill which takes money back only from poor working families. These Republicans took away a tax break that Gov. Frank Keating fought hard for.
An odd coalition of Tea Party Republicans and the Democratic Caucus teamed up to try to kill this bill. The working lower income parents just got a few hundred dollars taken from them by the Republicans in the legislature, so the Teacher Union will not pick on the politicians as hard, in the upcoming elections. |
Teachers may get a pay raise, but the students' families may not survive economically. So much for bridging the transition off of govt. assistance!
The House Democrats will surely exploit this decision as a campaign issue, but they are the chief proponents for giving massive pay raises to public school teachers. And the state just simply can't do both. The final vote tally for the bill was 51, in the 101 member House. The Tea Party Caucus in the Capitol seems to be just a few dozen strong, at best. |
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