DESPERATE to reverse slumping support for State Question 744, its backers must convince voters that Oklahoma can afford the cost of bringing education spending up to a moving regional average. That cost will likely top $1 billion a year in additional spending.
NewsOK
The Oklahoman Editorial Oklahoman
Published: October 15, 2010
Desperate to reverse slumping support for State Question 744, its backers must convince voters that Oklahoma can afford the cost of bringing education spending up to a moving regional average. That cost will likely top $1 billion a year in additional spending.
No problem, says the pro-744 crowd. We can pay for it by ending "legislative perks" (chump change), "wasteful spending" (a nebulous target indeed) and ending "billions in tax breaks for special interests." Cue the class warfare theme music.
What are those "special interests"? Yeson744.com answers that question with a link to the Oklahoma Tax Commission's report on tax credits and exemptions. Turns out those "special interests" are folks on Social Security, the poor, the handicapped, the parents of schoolchildren, state agencies and schools themselves.
Among the exemptions and tax credits that 744's backers apparently want to end is the state income tax exemption on Social Security benefits claimed on 160,000 tax returns. Oklahoma offers a more generous treatment of retirement income than do three of the six neighboring states that 744 backers hold up as exemplars of good government... FULL ARTICLE
Posted on
Fri, October 15, 2010
by Crystal Drwenski