BY RUSSELL TURNER
UNITED WE STAND
One of the greatest ideals in the American philosophy is that of equality. In essence it means that no matter what background any of us come from, we are all entitled to the same protection in our judicial system and laws of the land. Our founders understood that granting special favors to various groups is divisive. Our political system was designed to insure that all Americans would be treated the same. I recently read about a proposed law that would grant special favors to certain groups in Oklahoma while denying them to the rest of the population. The bill in question is HB 2204 authored by State Representative Aaron Stiles.
If the bill were to be signed into law it would exempt veterans and state employees from paying the state income tax. According to Representative Stiles, state employees have not seen a pay raise in six years while the cost of living has continued to increase. He also stated that “State employees are underpaid and underappreciated. Eliminating the income tax for them would effectively give them a pay raise.” Stiles said veterans should also be exempt from paying the state income tax. Representative Stiles also stated “Our tax in Oklahoma on income is too high and state employees and veterans are undervalued. We can essentially work on both problems in this one bill, which reduces taxes and gives state employees and veterans the equivalent of a pay raise.” I do agree with the Representative on the state income tax being too high, especially when our neighbor to the south (Texas) has no personal income tax.
Representative Stiles claims that state employees and veterans are undervalued; that may or may not be true, but I feel that the one class of people that have been neglected and underrepresented for far too long is the average taxpayer. All of the problems that our economy is currently experiencing are not limited to his two groups. Small business owners, along with all other taxpayers, are having a hard time making ends meet. I believe that if the idea to eliminate the personal state income tax is good for his groups, I also believe it should be applied to the rest of the citizens as well.
I do not have any animosity toward veterans or state employees; in fact my wife is a state employee. While the elimination of the personal income tax would benefit my wife, I do not believe in a two tiered society. Have we forgotten the results of the last general election? One of the state questions was to eliminate the practice of affirmative action, the voters overwhelmingly voted to do away with that divisive practice. I firmly believe that united we stand and divided we fall. HB 2204 is definitely not a bill that unifies the people of Oklahoma.
UNITED WE STAND
One of the greatest ideals in the American philosophy is that of equality. In essence it means that no matter what background any of us come from, we are all entitled to the same protection in our judicial system and laws of the land. Our founders understood that granting special favors to various groups is divisive. Our political system was designed to insure that all Americans would be treated the same. I recently read about a proposed law that would grant special favors to certain groups in Oklahoma while denying them to the rest of the population. The bill in question is HB 2204 authored by State Representative Aaron Stiles.
If the bill were to be signed into law it would exempt veterans and state employees from paying the state income tax. According to Representative Stiles, state employees have not seen a pay raise in six years while the cost of living has continued to increase. He also stated that “State employees are underpaid and underappreciated. Eliminating the income tax for them would effectively give them a pay raise.” Stiles said veterans should also be exempt from paying the state income tax. Representative Stiles also stated “Our tax in Oklahoma on income is too high and state employees and veterans are undervalued. We can essentially work on both problems in this one bill, which reduces taxes and gives state employees and veterans the equivalent of a pay raise.” I do agree with the Representative on the state income tax being too high, especially when our neighbor to the south (Texas) has no personal income tax.
Representative Stiles claims that state employees and veterans are undervalued; that may or may not be true, but I feel that the one class of people that have been neglected and underrepresented for far too long is the average taxpayer. All of the problems that our economy is currently experiencing are not limited to his two groups. Small business owners, along with all other taxpayers, are having a hard time making ends meet. I believe that if the idea to eliminate the personal state income tax is good for his groups, I also believe it should be applied to the rest of the citizens as well.
I do not have any animosity toward veterans or state employees; in fact my wife is a state employee. While the elimination of the personal income tax would benefit my wife, I do not believe in a two tiered society. Have we forgotten the results of the last general election? One of the state questions was to eliminate the practice of affirmative action, the voters overwhelmingly voted to do away with that divisive practice. I firmly believe that united we stand and divided we fall. HB 2204 is definitely not a bill that unifies the people of Oklahoma.
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