Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Oklahoma Reduced Supermajority Requirement for Sales Tax Increases Amendment (2018)
| Oklahoma Reduced Supermajority Requirement for Sales Tax Increases Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 6, 2018 | |
| Topic Taxes | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
The Oklahoma Reduced Supermajority Requirement for Sales Tax Increases Amendment, Senate Joint Resolution 61, was not on the ballot in Oklahoma as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018.[1]
The measure, SJR 61, was introduced in the Senate on February 5, 2018. It passed in the Senate on March 14, 2018, in a vote of 29 to 17. It was read for the first time in the House on March 15, 2018, and was referred to the House Rules Committee on March 21, 2018. Since the resolution was not passed before the legislature adjourned in May 2018, the measure was not on the November 2018 ballot.[1]
Measure design
This measure would have amended the state constitution to reduce the supermajority vote requirement in the legislature for bills to increase sales taxes without voter approval. It would have changed the vote requirement from a three-fourths (75 percent) supermajority to a three-fifths (60 percent) supermajority. The current law requiring voter approval of tax increases without a three-fourths supermajority vote in both chambers of the legislature was enacted through a citizen initiative in 1992.[2]
Another amendment—House Joint Resolution 1050—was introduced in the 2018 session to reduce the supermajority vote requirement for all tax increases to two-thirds (66.67 percent).
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for the amendment:[2]
| “ |
This measure amends the Oklahoma Constitution. It amends Section 33 of Article 5. It modifies the requirements for bills to raise revenue. It creates an exception to a requirement that 3/4ths of the Legislature approve revenue bills. The exception creates a new requirement that 3/5ths of the Legislature approve certain bills. Those bills would create new taxes or increase current taxes on sales which fall under the Sales or Use Tax Code. SHALL THE PROPOSAL BE APPROVED?[3] |
” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article V, Oklahoma Constitution
The measure would have amended section 33 of Article V of the state constitution. The following underlined text would have been added, and struck-through text would have been deleted:[2]
Section 33. A. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives. The Senate may propose amendments to revenue bills.
B. No revenue bill shall be passed during the five last days of the session.
C. Any revenue bill originating in the House of Representatives shall not become effective until it has been referred to the people of the state at the next general election held throughout the state and shall become effective and be in force when it has been approved by a majority of the votes cast on the measure at such election and not otherwise, except as otherwise provided in subsection D of this section.
D. Any Except as otherwise provided in subsection E of this
section, any revenue bill originating in the House of
Representatives may become law without being submitted to a vote of
the people of the state if such bill receives the approval of three-fourths
(3/4) of the membership of the House of Representatives and
three-fourths (3/4) of the membership of the Senate and is submitted
to the Governor for appropriate action. Any such revenue bill shall
not be subject to the emergency measure provision authorized in
Section 58 of this Article and shall not become effective and be in
force until ninety days after it has been approved by the
Legislature, and acted on by the Governor.
E. Notwithstanding subsection D of this section, any revenue bill originating in the House of Representatives may become law without being submitted to a vote of the people of the state if such bill receives the approval of three-fifths (3/5) of the membership of the House of Representatives and three-fifths (3/5) of the membership of the Senate, is submitted to the Governor for appropriate action and levies a new tax or increases an existing tax on sales pursuant to the Oklahoma Sales Tax Code or Use Tax Code. Any such revenue bill shall not be subject to the emergency measure provision authorized in Section 58 of this Article and shall not become effective and be in force until ninety (90) days after it has been approved by the Legislature, and acted on by the Governor.[3]
Background
State Question 640: The 1992 initiative that established the three-fourths requirement
Oklahoma voters approved the three-fourths (75 percent) requirement for tax increases in 1992 when State Question 640 was put on the ballot through a citizen initiative petition and received 56 percent approval. State Question 640 established that voter approval was required for any legislation increasing tax revenue unless it was approved by a 75 percent supermajority vote in both the state Senate and the state House.
Recent effects of the three-fourths requirement
During the 2018 session, a bill to increase taxes on tobacco, beer, fuel, and oil and gas development failed in the state House; 71 representatives voted in favor of the bill—five votes short of the required three-fourths supermajority—and 27 voted against it. In August 2017, the Oklahoma Supreme Court overturned a state law establishing a fee of $1.50 per pack of cigarettes because it was passed without the required three-fourths supermajority.[4]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Oklahoma Constitution
To put a legislatively referred constitutional amendment before voters, a simple majority is required in both the Oklahoma State Senate and the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
This amendment was sponsored by Sen. Kim David (R-18) and Rep. Kevin Wallace (R-32) as Senate Joint Resolution 61. It was first read on February 5, 2018, and was approved by the state Senate in a vote of 29-17 on March 14, 2018, with two excused. In the Senate, nine Republicans joined all eight Democrats to oppose the amendment. Of the remaining Republicans, 29 voted in favor, and two were excused. In the state House, Republicans hold a 73-28 majority over Democrats.[1]
Since the resolution was not passed before the legislature adjourned in May 2018, the measure was not on the November 2018 ballot.[1]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Oklahoma State Legislature, "Senate Joint Resolution 61," accessed March 14, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Oklahoma Legislature, "Senate Joint Resolution 61 - Text," accessed March 14, 2018
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Reuters, "Oklahoma Supreme Court rules fee on cigarettes unconstitutional," August 10, 2017
 |
State of Oklahoma Oklahoma City (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |
