A group called Restore Oklahoma Now, Inc. has filed a petition drive seeking a vote of the people to restore all gross production taxes on oil and gas to a full 7 percent.
Longtime oil and gas leader Mickey Thompson filed the paperwork Wednesday with the Oklahoma Secretary of State. His group has 90 days to obtain the required 123,000 signatures to put the question on a statewide ballot.
Thompson is a former president of the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association, an organization that reacted against his move.
OIPA President Tim Wigley responded immediately.
“Increasing the gross production tax and removing our state’s economic advantage means fewer investment dollars for Oklahoma and more for Texas, New Mexico or other energy states,” he said in a statement. “Exploration and production would not stop, but it would slow, and a portion of the people working in Oklahoma will now work in other parts of the country.”
Wigley contends the economic increase of the tax hike would be “great” as income taxes, sales taxes and property taxes paid by the workers would move along with them.
“So although the state would see an increase in gross production tax revenue, the losses in all other parts of our state economy would outweigh it,” added Wigley.
He charged that Restore Oklahoma Now “will be funded by out-of-state interests trying to impact the state’s most important industry, which pays more for public education than any other industry.”
Wigley said they would be “radical groups of environmentalists” who could care less about Oklahoma teachers “but only hope to harm and stop oil and natural gas development.”
Thompson, now the owner of Brain Storm Strategies LLC explained 90 percent of the revenue would be earmarked for a $4,000 teacher pay raise and to address the teacher shortage in the state. He said the remaining 10 percent would fund early childhood education.
Thompson also said the tax hike would raise about $333 million in the upcoming fiscal year.