Oklahoma Politics

As the 2009 legislative season approaches in Oklahoma with the convening of the legislature at the state capitol the first week of February, we will attempt to share with our readers some of the bills which our legislators are proposing.
This will give readers an opportunity to see for themselves what our paid legislators are up to, as well as an opportunity to contact your elected officials to voice your support or opposition to the legislation.
While Oklahoma has fared very well financially as compared to other states in the past two years, declining oil prices are certain to create some financial challenges for legislators, who are already stealing from Peter to pay Paul.
While most Oklahoma government agencies issue outcries for lack of funding, transportation among them (with thousands of miles of critical highways and scores of unsafe bridges) there will still be a push in the coming legislature to remove the state tax on groceries.
While this sounds good to border counties like Choctaw (since Texas doesn’t tax groceries), the state’s largest cities strongly oppose the removal of sales tax on groceries because their residents don’t have the opportunity to cross state lines and more importantly, they don’t want to lose the municipal tax revenue.
So a “one-size-fits-all” solution actually seldom works in Oklahoma. With the GOP driving this year’s legislative train, and most of them coming from OKC and western Oklahoma, the prospects for southeast Oklahoma gaining ground in this legislative season appear slim.
Time will tell.