Stitt signs HB 3068
OKLAHOMA CITY – Legislation that requires garnishment of wages of state employees who are behind on paying state income taxes, rather than termination of employment, has been enacted.
Governor Stitt signed House Bill 3068 by Rep. Lundy Kiger, R-Poteau, and Sen. Dewayne Pemberton, R-Muskogee. The bill was embraced almost unanimously by the Legislature, passing 99-1 in the House of Representatives and 45-0 in the Senate.
The new law goes into effect Nov. 1. The intent of this bill is to secure payment of any past-due income taxes owed to the state by the employee, Kiger said. “An example would be a state employee who failed to file state income taxes for a quarter before becoming a state employee, or if an employee has a spouse who failed in the past to file state taxes.”
HB 3068 provides that the state employee will be subject to having his or her wages garnished, just like other Oklahomans, instead of being subject to a lengthy discipline process that involves written documentation to the employee and requires notice from the Oklahoma Tax Commission to the state agency for which the employee works.
“There are many examples of why these changes are needed,” Kiger said. “This also includes, for example, clerical errors in taxes owed or someone prior to state employment not making enough money to file with the state and that later shows up in the employee’s history. This bill will get taxes owed to the state paid quicker.”
Now, instead of being discharged by the state agency, the employee will have a percentage of his or her wages withheld each pay period until the tax debt is paid. An individual who is fired from a job can’t realistically be expected to pay a tax bill that’s in arrears, Kiger noted.
The first-term lawmaker said the bill was a request from the Oklahoma Public Employees Association.
“I had several state employees who told me they had been through this situation and it was the most embarrassing thing they had ever experienced,” he said.