A key Oklahoma House budget panel has passed a broad range of tax increases to shore up a hole in the budget, sending a signal that House leaders could be willing to give the package a vote on the floor this week.
The House budget committee on Tuesday voted 19-6 for the same package of taxes that cleared the full Senate a day earlier. It includes an additional tax of $1.50-per-pack on cigarettes, 6 cents on gasoline and diesel and a hike in the gross production tax on oil and gas from 2 percent to 4 percent.
The entire package would generate about $430 million in recurring revenue each year, along with about $138 million in the current fiscal year to help close that budget gap.