OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahomans can expect to see the House of Representatives pass the largest education budget in state history and cuts in the state income and grocery taxes this legislative session, the majority leader of the Oklahoma House of Representatives said.
But they shouldn’t expect a voucher program any time soon.
State Rep. Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City, said the First Session of the 59th Oklahoma Legislature would be productive because there’s less political pressure facing lawmakers.
“Everyone just got off the pressure cooker,” Echols said. “And in the House, we know. We are really aware of what the citizens are asking for.”
Those requests including funding for public schools, expansion of school choice and some type of tax reduction, he said.
In his State of the State address, Stitt renewed his call for a school voucher program. The governor’s budget would earmark $130 million this year for education savings accounts – or voucher program. Both Stitt and State Superintendent Ryan Walters campaigned on expanding school choice in Oklahoma.
Still, while House members gave Stitt’s speech a positive response, the governor’s call for education savings accounts and school vouchers won’t get very far, Echols said.
“The message we sent (about vouchers) last year was very clear,” Echols said. “The House is big on education funding, but the House is also very rural, and I think there is no way a voucher bill will pass the House.”
Echols isn’t the only House leader to say that.
Last week, House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, told the Tulsa World newspaper the House was uninterested in hearing bills similar to the Oklahoma Empowerment Act, a plan that died in the Senate in 2022.
“The House is very pro-education,” McCall told the newspaper. “We are always exploring and working on policies that would increase parental choice. But we’re looking for a policy that’s going to work everywhere.”
Echols agreed. He said he was personally supportive of school choice, but any statewide school choice plan must also reflect the concerns of rural school districts.
“It’s (a school choice plan) going to have to apply to all schools but also take concerns of rural school superintendents into account,” Echols said. “I don’t think there is a path to pass a voucher inside the house.”
Records show that about 39% of the state’s budget -- the largest state appropriation – goes to the State Department of Education to fund the state’s K-12th-grade schools. In addition, the state’s higher education system received about $770 million for fiscal year 2021, while the state Career and Tech Education system received $118 million for FY 21.
Even with the debate over school choice and vouchers, Echols expects the Legislature to pass the largest public education budget in the history of the state.
“Nobody is really debating on whether or not we’re going to give the largest education budget in history. The debate is on how to spend the money,” he said.
That budget would also include some type of pay increase for teachers and, possibly, some type of performance-based pay system. And though Echols said he was supportive of both, he said he wanted to see details about a performance-based pay plan.
“Performance pay is a buzzword,” he said. “And I’m for performance pay in theory, but I want to see what the plan is. I want to pay teachers more, but what does that look like? That has always been my question with performance-based pay.”
Echols, who is serving his final two years in the House – and as majority floor leader – said he also expects the House to pass a cut in the personal income tax and in the state’s portion of the grocery sales tax.
“If I could pick any single tax cut, that would be it,” he said. “I think no tax cut is better for working Oklahomans than getting rid of the grocery tax.”
Echols said a grocery tax cut would only apply to the state’s portion – about 4.5% – and would not impact municipal tax rates. He said he gets letters regularly from municipal officials, and he replies to each one the same way.
“I tell them we are never gonna repeal city sales tax portion,” he said. “Insert strongest possible words here: Never are we doing a repeal of the city portion.”
Yet even with those assurances, Echols said many municipal officials remain opposed to a cut in the grocery tax.
“They are still against it, and the argument I keep getting is because when we get rid of the state portion (of the tax), there will be pressure on them to get rid of the city portion,” he said. “And I will say this as respectfully as I know how to: Man, if you can’t take some pressure, don’t run for elective office. It is what it is.”
Instead of fighting a cut to the state portion of the sales tax, Echols suggested that municipal officials explain to their constituents why they need municipal tax revenue.
With a $1.8 billion budget surplus from last year and $4 billion in savings, he said the state is at the point where residents are asking, “How much more of my money are you going to keep?”
Tax cuts are a way to return some of those funds.
Yet while Echols said he expects to see tax reductions, he said it’s too early to say what those cuts will look like or even how long they will be in effect. He said he expects a lot of back-and-forth with Gov. Stitt’s office on the level of the personal income tax reduction and the final form of a grocery tax cut.
“On the grocery tax, I’d say there’s a 90 percent chance that the House passes a bill, but it’s too early to say exactly what it would look like,” he said. “One way to do a reduction is with a moratorium, like they did the MAPS tax in Oklahoma City.”
With only two years remaining in his legislative career, Echols said he expects to return to the health care business but added that he hasn’t ruled out a return to public service. At 43, the Oklahoma City Republican has plenty of time to make that decision.
“If I do something in the future, I want to find a post where I could make a difference,” he said.
Echols also wants politics in the Sooner State to become more civil. He said extremists on both sides have damaged the idea that people could debate issues disagree and still develop good policy – or even remain friends.
“Part of the reason for the extremist is because the extremist position -- one way or another – is an easier political sell,” he said. “My version, working to develop a consensus and building coalitions, that is a more difficult political sell. I think we have to find a way to rise above any level of individualized politics.”