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Oklahoma Senate approves grocery tax cut, paving way for it to become law

KGOU | By Lionel Ramos

Published February 22, 2024 at 4:12 PM CST

Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, announced Wednesday that his chamber will be voting on a grocery tax cut this session, but not an income tax cut. He said the state can't afford to do both and remain fiscally responsible.

This story has been updated.

The Oklahoma Senate has paved the way for a cut to the state's portion of grocery taxes to become law.

House Bill 1955 passed the Senate with a 42-2 vote. The measure cuts the state’s four-and-a-half-percent tax on groceries and prohibits cities and counties from raising their sales taxes until next summer. It goes into effect once the governor signs it.

Senate leaders say it will be the last tax cut they pass this regular session.

“To be clear — this is the only tax relief the Senate will be seeking this year.” Senate Pro Temp Greg Treat said in a press release announcing the upcoming vote. “To ensure state services and recent critical investments in education and infrastructure remain intact in the long and short term, there is no way to do more at this time,” he said.

That would make an income tax cut, championed by Gov. Kevin Stitt and House Speaker Charles McCall, unlikely.

The decision to move a grocery tax cut through the Senate comes a week after the State Board of Equalization authorized $11.1 billion for the legislature to dish out to state agencies and programs for Fiscal Year 2025. That’s in addition to more than $4 billion Stitt and McCall said the state has in savings.

Treat said the budget numbers were encouraging at a press conference last week, but not enough to cut revenues to the point of sacrificing Oklahoma’s financial flexibility.

He said passing a grocery tax cut would mean Oklahomans get inflation relief and the state stays responsible with its money. And it has support from many, including Gov. Stitt and Senate Democrats.

“Senate Democrats continue to support cutting the state portion of the sales tax on groceries,” said Senate Leader Kay Floyd, D-Oklahoma City.

Treat proposed his own Senate Bill 1283 this session, but several measures have been floating around since last year. McCall’s HB 1955 is one of them, and if approved, it could land on the governor’s desk in a matter of days.

As for Stitt, he’s made his position clear.

"As I said in my State of the State, I will sign any tax cut that comes to my desk,” Stitt said in a statement last week in support of a grocery tax cut. “I stand by that promise and I will sign it immediately.”

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