Oklahoma appears to be in even more budgetary trouble than previously thought, reports KOCO. Last Thursday it was announced that the state’s budget deficit had ballooned to more than $1.3 billion. The new budget deficit is 13 percent larger than December’s estimate of about $900 million. In the face of the massive budget hole, Senate GOP leaders proposed suspending millions of dollars' worth of tax subsidies.
The Senate’s bill that passed this week would suspend nearly two dozen tax credits. Many of those credits were aimed at poor and working-class families, like the earned-income tax credit and the deduction for child care expenses.
Business subsidies are also being cut, which has sent shockwaves through the white-collar sector. A Boeing executive expressed concern this week, saying the bill could halt the company’s efforts to recruit engineers.
