Oklahoma tax reform – and its implications on the state budget – was the theme of a panel discussion Friday at the Tulsa Regional Chamber’s Legislative Briefing Breakfast at DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Tulsa-Warren Place.

Moderated by Seth Paxton, manager of government affairs at Paycom, the event’s presenting sponsor, the panel featured Sen. Chuck Hall, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee; Sen. Dave Rader, chair of the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee; and Rep. Mark Lepak, chair of the House Government Oversight Committee on Banking, Financial Services and Pensions.

The audience of about 180 people also heard slideshow presentations from the panelists and 90-second updates from eight other legislators in attendance.

Gov. Kevin Stitt has called for state tax relief, saying other states have leap-frogged Oklahoma in making their tax codes more appealing to business investment 

A bill authored by Rader would establish a flat 4.75% income tax rate in Oklahoma and increase the standard deduction.

“We just need to continue to keep our tax rate overall burden lower,” he said. “We need to message that better. It can’t just be one column.”

Lepak favors tax reform based on triggers and incremental reductions. He proposes changes based on total collections instead of general revenue and prefers a tax structure that considers consumption rather than work, productivity and investment.

“The balance in the state is a good story to tell,” Lepak said. “I want to perfect the code, if I can say that, and it needs to be on an incremental basis.

“I would like to look at tax reform creating an environment that will help us grow the economy and take care of a lot of the challenges 

Hall said it’s important that the state remain fiscally responsible.

“Behind every dollar we spend in Oklahoma is a person,” he said.

Hall added that legislators would do well to remember leaner times in the state, citing the decreases in revenues in fiscal years 2017 and ’18 that led to significant cuts to agency appropriations. 

“We don’t want to squander what legislatures had to do to balance the budget in those years.”

Many unknowns exist when examining funding for fiscal year 2026, including proposed changes in federal funding, Hall said.

“…Are we going to allow those benefits that we are receiving from the federal government to just go away and start cutting benefits to Oklahomans or is Oklahoma going to make up that gap?” Hall asked.

“I talk to our federal delegation regularly…The level of federal dollars coming back down to the states is not sustainable. That should worry all of us.”

In addition to creating space for in-depth discussions on topics such as budget reform, Legislative Briefing Breakfasts give local elected officials a chance to provide an outlook on the legislative session and share their top priorities for the remainder of the year. The final LBB of the year is scheduled for Friday, May 2, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Tulsa-Downtown.