Stitt calls for special legislative session into state income tax

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KSWO) - A Muscogee Nation employee has filed a case to argue that all Native Americans living on McGirt Reservation areas are exempt from paying state income tax.

She’s bringing the case to the Oklahoma Supreme Court and Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt is calling for a law mandating no Oklahoman will have to pay a state income tax if the tribe doesn’t.

Lawmakers all have different ideas as to what side they are on and if it can even be done.

Governor Stitt said the special session is being called to demand tax fairness for all Oklahomans, deliver a tax cut to Oklahoma tax payers, and to increase transparency in the state budget process.

Furthermore, Stitt is calling on the Oklahoma legislature to do the following:

1. A trigger law mandating that if a state or federal court finds that some individuals, due to their race, heritage, or political classification, don’t have to pay a state tax, then no Oklahoman will have to pay the tax.

2. A tax cut that puts Oklahoma on the path to zero income taxes.

3. A measure that increases budget transparency to ensure that Oklahomans and their elected representatives have the ability and opportunity to see how their taxpayer dollars are being spent.

The Oklahoma Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat said he wants Stitt to appear before the Senate Appropriations Committee to explain his call for a special session further.

“Governor Stitt’s special session call was extraordinarily vague,” Treat said. “That is why I am calling on him to come and sit before the Senate Appropriations Committee to explain what his goals are and where he wants us to make cuts. From our estimate, he wants budget cuts somewhere in the neighborhood of $4 billion. I would like to know which specific taxes Governor Stitt proposes on raising to cover the hole his plan would create in the state budget.”

The special legislative session will begin Oct. 3, 2023.

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