Income Tax Rate Cut Advances, Passage Unlikely

From www.tulsaworld.com ~ Although the state faces a $900 million budget hole, the House approved a measure Tuesday that would drop the state's income tax rate from 5.5 percent to 4 percent.

Rep. Jeff Hickman, the House author of the bill, said passage of Senate Bill 315 keeps alive the possibility of an income tax cut, even though House Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa, and Gov. Brad Henry have said any tax cut seems unrealistic this year because revenues alone are estimated to be down more than $600 million compared with a year ago.

The bill heads back to the Senate and will end up in a conference committee as work develops on crafting the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, said Hickman, R-Fairview.

It's estimated the state's actual budget deficit will be closer to about $300 million, as federal economic stimulus money and some available cash on hand could take care of about $600 million of the expected shortfall, he said.

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Hickman: OEA Pushes 'Back-door' School Consolidation Plan For Second Time

The Oklahoma Education Association is renewing its push for “back-door consolidation” of rural schools, a state legislative leader warned today.

Rep. Jeff Hickman noted this is the second time in three years the Oklahoma Education Association has tried to force rural consolidation.

“The OEA keeps using the same old bait-and-switch: They say they want to help education but pursue strategies guaranteed to force the closing of rural schools,” said Hickman, R-Dacoma.

This year’s state appropriation for public schools was $2.53 billion – an increase and record amount in a session when most state agencies received no extra funding at all. Oklahoma schools are expected to also receive another $628.2 million in federal funds and around $1 billion more in local funding, he said.

In spite of that record support, the OEA plans to promote a proposed constitutional amendment mandating an increase in “per-pupil” funding they say would require an additional $850 million appropriation, according to the July 17 edition of The Oklahoman.

That plan would almost certainly force the closure of dozens of rural schools in an effort to reach the OEA’s arbitrary goal, Hickman noted. Many of those smaller, rural districts are at or near the top in the state in academic performance.

“The OEA’s plan would force the elimination of schools across the state to reduce overhead and boost per-pupil funding,” Hickman said. “Their plan would not provide any true benefit to students and would actually create serious hardships for families throughout Oklahoma. The OEA bosses in Oklahoma City may not think it’s a big deal for rural parents to have to drive children an hour or more to school, but I think most parents would disagree, especially in a time of $4 gas.”

This is the OEA’s second attempt to force school consolidation. In late 2005, the union filed a lawsuit on behalf of the super-wealthy Jenks and Western Heights school districts claiming they were underfunded, Hickman said. The OEA lawsuit was modeled after an Arkansas plan that forced the closure of 57 school districts in that state. If the OEA had been successful at forcing the Arkansas model on Oklahoma, up to 250 Oklahoma school districts could have faced closure thanks to the OEA’s back-door consolidation plan.

“You don’t improve education by closing schools – particularly some of our best-performing districts,” Hickman said, “It’s too bad the OEA doesn’t understand that.”

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'Come Home To Oklahoma Act' Passes House

A measure to attract residents to rural Oklahoma passed the full House today.

House Bill 1678, the "Come Home to Oklahoma Act", by Rep. Jeff Hickman, would provide a five-year income tax exemption to anyone moving from out of state to a rural city or county in Oklahoma which has been losing population.

To qualify for the exemption, the new resident would have to purchase or build a single-family home in one of the 48 counties, or 43 cities in the remaining 29 counties, which have lost population since either the 1940 census or the 1990 census. This time frame captures areas of Oklahoma which had significant population losses after either the Industrial Revolution or the oil bust.

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Fourth House Committee Member Returns Campaign Donation From Bradford Phillips Of Texas

A fourth member of the House Economic Development and Financial Services Committee, Rep. Ron Peters, Tulsa Republican, confirmed today that he has returned a campaign donation from Texas businessman Bradford Phillips, son of the controversial insurance industry figure Gene Phillips. And a fifth member may have returned a donation as well.

Asked by The McCarville Report Online if he had received a campaign donation from Bradford Phillips, Peters (pictured) replied, "Yes, $600."

Peters said he received the unsolicited donation "about a month ago" and returned it.

Committee Chairman Ron Peterson, R-Broken Arrow, has not yet responded to a similar TMRO inquiry. A House member, however, told TMRO that Peterson received a donation "much larger" than the $600 Peters received and returned. The member says Peterson also returned the donation.

Rep. Jeff Hickman, R-Dacoma, and Rep. Earl Sears, R-Bartlesville, both told the Tulsa World earlier that they received checks for $600, and Rep. George Faught, R-Muskogee, said he received $645. The contributions came in late December, apparently about the same time Peters received the donation to his campaign. They also returned the donations.

They are members of the House committee that approved legislation favorable to the Phillips family last spring.

The donations apparently came about the same time Gene Phillips hosted a mid-December fundraiser for presidential candidate Mike Huckabee in his Dallas home. House Speaker Lance Cargill, State GOP Chairman Gary Jones and other Republican members of the House attended.

Gene Phillips became a controversial figure during the tenure of former Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher. Fisher is serving a three-year prison sentence for embezzling $1,000 from his campaign and lying on a contributions report. He also is accused of accepting $25,000 and other gifts from Phillips, his family and business associates in exchange for favorable treatment of their insurance companies.

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Hickman, Sears, Faught Return Phillips Money

Mick Hinton of the Tulsa World and The Associated Press report today that State Reps. Jeff Hickman, Earl Sears and George Faught are returning contributions given by the son of a man linked to convicted former state Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher. The donations were given by Bradford Phillips who is the son of Texas insurance company owner Gene Phillips.

Here's the essence of Hinton's story: Three Republican lawmakers confirmed Wednesday that they will be returning unsolicited campaign contributions from Bradford Phillips, the son of controversial Texas insurance company owner Gene Phillips.

Rep. Jeff Hickman, R-Dacoma (left), and Rep. Earl Sears, R-Bartlesville (center), both said they received checks for $600, and Rep. George Faught, R-Muskogee (right), received $645.

The contributions came in late December.

The three are members of a House committee that approved legislation favorable to the Phillips family last spring.

Faught said that when he learned about the controversy surrounding the Phillips family, he decided to return the check.

Sears, who had cashed the check, took $600 out of his campaign Tuesday and sent it to Phillips.

Hickman said he was mailing the check back Wednesday. "I returned the contribution; I just felt uncomfortable," Faught said.

Read more at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080117_1_A9_hThem76744.

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