State House Republicans up ante on tax cuts

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A group of Democrats are criticizing Republicans for increasing a proposed state income tax cut. <br/><br/>The tax cut bill proposed by House Speaker Todd Hiett would reduce the maximum

Tuesday, May 17th 2005, 6:02 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A group of Democrats are criticizing Republicans for increasing a proposed state income tax cut.

The tax cut bill proposed by House Speaker Todd Hiett would reduce the maximum income tax rate from 6.65 to 6.25 percent. The bill was amended by Representative Kevin Calvey to reduce the tax rate to 5.65 percent.

Democrats say cutting the state income tax by a full percentage point would hurt schools, colleges and other programs that depend on tax dollars.

The bill passed the state House with strong support, but many Democrats say they didn't know it had been amended until after they voted for it.