Property Tax Cap Bill Passes Senate

The State Senate today approved a bill its sponsor says could help slow property tax hikes.

Senate Joint Resolution 59, by Senator Jim Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, would let Oklahoma voters decide whether to lower the current property tax cap of five percent to three percent.

“This legislation came straight from my constituents who are begging for relief from increases in property taxes,” said Reynolds. “This is an especially burdensome tax for many low-income and older people in my district and throughout Oklahoma.”

Reynolds said the five percent cap on property value assessments was supposed to limit yearly increases, but it has not worked in the way property owners thought it would.

The bill now goes to the House.

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Around The Rotunda: Henry Creates Campus Security Task Force, Credit Card Bill Advances

Campus Security: Governor Brad Henry today announced the creation of the Campus Life and Safety and Security (CLASS) Task Force to study safety and security at Oklahoma’s college, university and CareerTech campuses.

Campus Credit Card Offers: Although lawmakers voted this week to restrict the sale of college students' private information to credit card companies, Rep. Joe Dorman said additional safeguards are still needed: "We took a step in the right direction today, but too many loopholes remain that allow credit card companies to target college freshmen," said Dorman, D-Rush Springs. "The door is still open for teenagers to be lured into a debt spiral that will take years to escape." Senate Bill 496, by Senator Jim Reynolds (R-Oklahoma City) and Rep. Sally Kern (R-Oklahoma City), cleared the state House today and makes it illegal for any state college or university to "enter into any agreement" to "sell student data to any creditor for purposes of marketing consumer credit to students." The legislation passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives on a 90-5 vote and now returns to the state Senate.

Senate Passes Legal Reform Bill: The Oklahoma Senate on Thursday narrowly approved a Republican-sponsored bill making changes in the state's civil justice system over objections it protects wrongdoers whose negligence hurts innocent people.The vote was 25-23 for the bill. It takes 25 votes to pass a bill in the 48-member Senate.

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