Legislative session now focusing on tobacco taxes, tort reform

Monday, May 3rd 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- With four weeks left in the 2004 Oklahoma Legislature, leaders are concentrating on tobacco taxes, tort reform and tidying up a budget that is basically written.

Recent comments by leaders suggest that marrying Gov. Brad Henry's tobacco tax plan to tax relief is becoming more of a certainty.

"Tobacco and taxes are the No. 1 things left to be done," said Senate President Pro Tem Cal Hobson, D-Lexington.

Hobson said he supports Henry's goal of reducing retirement taxes and capital gains taxes on companies that have investments in the state.

Last week, Henry said Oklahoma can afford to phase in the tax cuts, but he wants most of the proceeds from a tobacco tax-cut program to go toward improving the health of Oklahomans.

So does Hobson.

"There's no reason to raise a significant amount of money from the tobacco tax and then just turn around and wash it back out with tax cuts," the Senate leader said.

"That's a zero. That doesn't get your trauma system, your cancer research facility and it doesn't insure a couple hundred thousand Oklahomans."

Henry's original tobacco tax plan called for a vote of the people on a 52-cent per pack net cigarette tax increase that would raise an estimated $130 million.

The Democratic governor proposed using about $100 million of that to expand health care to about 200,000 uninsured citizens. A $400 million program is envisioned when state dollars are matched with federal funds.

The program entails subsidies to help businesses provide health insurance to employees.

The rest of the money raised by the tax would be used for trauma care and the cancer center.

Some Republicans have suggested cutting back on the health care program and expanding the tax-cut proposals.

Hobson, however, said it would be "a waste of negotiating time to have that kind of conversation and I'm not interested in doing that."

Hobson expects the tobacco tax plan to win final legislative approval.

"I do because the State of Oklahoma's healthy future is at stake if we don't. There's so many elements that need attention. I believe at a minimum we should ask voters to make an additional investment in the health of Oklahoma. I do believe we will be successful."

A joint House-Senate committee will hold the last of four public hearings next week on lawsuit reform issues.

Rep. Jari Askins, D-Duncan, vice chairman of the panel, said the issue has not lost momentum, as some have suggested.

She said she and Sen. Mike Morgan, D-Stillwater, committee chairman, "are absolutely committed to having a tort reform bill ready for consideration, hopefully before the last week of the session."

She said the biggest obstacle to a smooth adjournment may be putting the final touches on a $5.3 billion budget that was largely completed when a general appropriations bill was passed several weeks ago.

For the most part, Askins said, budget subcommittees are merely putting the same spending limits in individual appropriations bills that were in the GA bill.

Still, she said, "people think we have more money than we do" and are expecting more funding to recover from budget cuts of 20 percent the last couple of years.

Hobson said the session is in good shape should turn out to be successful, partly because Henry has been "more aggressive" on key items in his agenda.

"I'm biased, but I think addressing the gaming bill early was helpful," Hobson said. "It gave us a blueprint for future budgets. I know we are having this argument for an initiative petition, but you can't program your budget based on initiative petitions."

He was referring to a petition drive launched by Rep. Forrest Claunch, R-Midwest City, to overturn a bill that allows pari-mutuel horse racing tracks to have the same electronic gaming devices that Indian casinos have.

Supporters say they are confident the people will not reject the gaming bill even if Claunch is successful in getting the issue to the ballot box.

Education groups oppose Claunch's efforts because it puts at risk $71 million raised by the gaming bill for education.

Hobson said an overlooked accomplishment by lawmakers has been funding endowed chairs at colleges and universities.

"That puts $46 million into research and higher education. Two other very important issues that have been addressed is the full funding of teacher health care and the two-phase, two-year state employee pay increases.

"It's not normally the case to have five major issues like these resolved a month before adjournment. That will help us as to address these last few issues -- tobacco and taxes."

The Legislature is under a deadline to adjourn by 5 p.m. on May 28.