Wright defends state tax cut for Oklahoma

State Rep. Harold Wright says the oil bust is the reason for Oklahoma’s current revenue shortage and not a small cut in the state income tax.
“The reason we’ve had financial problems is the oil bust . . . not because we cut the income tax,” Wright told Custer County Republicans at their August meeting Thursday night in Clinton. “That’s just not true,” he said of Democratic accusations that this year’s big budget shortfall is due to the income tax.
For 2016, the tax rate has been lowered by one-fourth of 1 percent, from 5.25 percent to 5.0 percent, for the nearly two-thirds of Oklahomans in the highest tax bracket. That’s individuals earning at least $8,700 a year and couples earning at least $15,000.