Oklahoma Increased Tax on Oil and Gas Wells for Education Funding Initiative, State Question 795 (2018)

Oklahoma Increased Tax on Oil and Gas Wells for Education Funding Initiative, State Question 795
Election date November 6, 2018
Topic Education
Status Not on the ballot
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin Citizens
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The Oklahoma Increased Tax on Oil and Gas Wells for Education Funding Initiative will not appear on the ballot in Oklahoma as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018.

The measure was designed to levy a five percent tax on gross production of oil and gas from wells during the first 36 months of production. Revenues from the tax would have gone to a newly created Quality Instruction Fund. The funds would have been used to increase the salaries of certified education personnel. However, the funds may not have been used toward the salaries of superintendents or assistant superintendents of a school district. The measure also specified that funds from the tax may not be used to replace or supplant existing education funding.

During the 2018 session, the state legislature passed and the governor signed a bill—House Bill 1010—to increase the gross production tax on oil and gas to 5 percent and provide a $6,000 raise to teachers. The group behind this initiative said that this bill was a move in the right direction and that it would have to decide how it affects the necessity of the initiative. Restore Oklahoma Now Inc. Co-Founder Mickey Thompson said, "Our group still believes the gross production tax should be 7 percent across the board. We haven't changed our minds on that. We also haven't lost sight of the fact that we started this effort with one goal in mind and that was to give teachers a significant pay raise. It appears that has happened, so we do have a decision to consider. Our teachers are dramatically underpaid. $6,000 is a good start to getting us back to respectability. Our decision is not should the teachers get more than the legislature approved. We think that answer is yes. This deal in and of itself is just a good start."

Oklahoma Watch reported on April 13, 2018 that executive director of Restore Oklahoma Now, Mickey Thompson, said State Question 795 "has been put on hold as organizers continue to discuss whether to proceed with the signature-collecting phase of the effort." Since the legislature passed House Bill 1010 and already gave teachers a $6,000 pay raise and increased the gross production tax on oil and gas to five percent, proponents of State Question 795 are questioning "whether the plan enjoys enough public support now that the gross production tax is at 5 percent and teachers have received sizable raises." State Question 795 would have added an extra $4,000 to teachers' pay.

Text of measure

Constitutional changes

The proposed amendment would have added a new article, Article XIII-C, to the Oklahoma Constitution. The proposed Article XIII-C can be read here.

Full text

The full text of the measure is available here.

Support

Supporters

Restore Oklahoma Now sponsored this initiative.

Oklahoma Energy Producers Alliance (OEPA) backed the Restore Oklahoma Now campaign, and Mickey Thompson, former president of the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association (OIPA), was hired to help run the campaign.

Arguments

Mike Cantrell, chairman of the Oklahoma Energy Producers Alliance (OEPA), said, “We think it’s a matter of fairness to Oklahomans that all oil and natural gas production be taxed at a flat and competitive – with other states – rate that helps sustain essential state services, especially addressing our teacher crisis and teacher pay. Our petition will restore the historical 7 percent GPT immediately on all wells, in other words repealing all the current tiers of state oil and natural gas production tax. [...] Further, we will lock-box the additional proceeds from this restoration for teacher pay and for rehiring thousands of teachers to address the ongoing shortage of qualified teachers."

Opposition

Opponents

The Oklahoma Oil and Gas Association and the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association challenged the constitutionality of this initiative and representatives of the organizations stated that they would campaign in opposition to the initiative if it did qualify for the ballot.

Arguments

Chad Warmington, president of the Oklahoma Oil and Gas Association, said, "Should this measure make it to the ballot, we will educate the public on the consequences of passing such an initiative, including the job losses it will cause in the energy sector."

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Oklahoma

The state process

In Oklahoma, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 15 percent of the votes cast for governor in the previous gubernatorial election. Signatures must be submitted 90 days after the initiative is cleared for circulation by the secretary of state. Measures are generally placed on the next general election ballot following signature verification, but the governor may call a special election or place the measure on the primary ballot. If petitioners are targeting a specific election, the secretary of state recommends that signatures be submitted eight months prior to the election; however, they must be submitted a minimum of 60 days before the election to make the ballot.

The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2018 ballot:

• Signatures: 123,725 valid signatures were required.
• Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was September 8, 2018; each initiative has a specific deadline as well.

The secretary of state verifies signatures and submits the totals and the vote totals that determine the requirement to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which makes the final determination of sufficiency.

Details about this initiative

• A petition for this initiative was filed on December 20, 2017.
• The Oklahoma Oil and Gas Association and the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association challenged the initiative arguing that it violated the state's single-subject rule and that it created an unconstitutional retroactive tax. The challenge also argued that the petition language drafted for the initiative was inaccurate.
• On March 19, 2018, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in favor of initiative proponents and voted to allow them to proceed with signature gathering.
• The initiative was withdrawn by the sponsors on April 23, 2018.

See also

2018 measures

• 2018 ballot measures
• Education on the ballot
• Taxes on the ballot

Oklahoma

• Oklahoma ballot measures
• Oklahoma ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• State Question 795