Please Vote! Tax Cut: Hiett-Henry or Morgan-Sen

[Chicken Little]

Bone up and please vote in jne's "State Budgets" poll.

From the Tulsa World:

quote:   The Henry-Hiett plan to reduce the state income tax rate to 5.5 percent from 6.25 percent cuts too deeply into state revenue, disproportionately benefits the wealthy and is a political ploy during the election season, Morgan said.

Hiett, R-Kellyville, is running for lieutenant governor, while Henry, a Democrat, is seeking re-election. Morgan said he is not running for anything this year.

"We've got a speaker of the House and governor just bent on cutting taxes," Morgan said.

Oklahoma's current standard deduction is $2,000 for a single filer and $4,000 for those filing jointly. Under the Senate Democrats' proposal, a single filer's deduction would rise to $5,250, while a joint return would contain a $10,500 deduction, based on estimates for 2007 from the Oklahoma Tax Commission.

"For example, if we increase the standard deduction to the federal level, a family of four with an adjusted gross income of $50,000 would realize a tax savings of $532," Morgan said. "That same family of four would save only $173 from the lowering of the top income tax rate to 5.5 percent."

When fully annualized, increasing the standard deduction will reduce taxes by $172 million, compared to the $255 million tax reduction under the Henry plan.

Morgan said he agreed with calls for elimination of the estate tax, which would be a concession to Hiett and House Republicans.

[more about the differences in the two budgets]