New taxes on electric and hybrid cars are among those to be heard by the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday following the filing of three lawsuits two months ago after they were created by the legislature.
Oral arguments will be heard on the suits filed in a challenge to the legality of the way the State legislature created the taxes which are supposed to raise $300 million in new revenue. Gubernatorial candidate Gary Richardson is one of those who filed a lawsuit, claiming the legislature broke the law in the way it went about creating the revenue-producing measures.
“We feel really good about our position,” said Richardson in an interview with the Journal Record. “Not just pretty good, really good.”
He maintains that if leaders pick and choose what part of the constitution they will follow, “we’re in more trouble than we think we are.”
One of the lawsuits challenges a sales tax on automobiles while another said a fee on electric and hybrid vehicles was unconstitutional. Others challenged a per-pack fee on cigarettes while still another argued a freeze on the income tax standard deduction rate was not legal.
Philip Morris USA joined suppliers and retailers in filing one of the lawsuits, challenging the cigarette fee. The Oklahoma Auto Dealers Association sued over the sales tax on automobiles.