The fastest way to win a Republican’s heart is usually through a big tax cut, and that rings particularly true when it pertains to Oklahoma’s GOP Gubernatorial primary election. Mike Mazzei seems to be attempting to take this path via “A Plan” being pitched to Oklahoma voters, promising to eliminate our state income tax and also putting an end to property taxes for seniors and veterans. Mike Mazzei is a financial planner and a self-proclaimed budget expert, so most take him at his word. However, ‘the plan’s” details are murky and Mazzei’s math simply doesn’t add up. These cuts will never happen, nor can they, unless we want to live in a bankrupt state and have the most underfunded schools in the country.
Starting with Mazzei’s plan to end our state income tax, let’s be clear, no state with a tax on earned income has ever gotten rid of it. Mazzei promises to immediately cut our state’s top rate from 4.50% to 3%, a decrease of 1.50%. Compare that to Kevin Stitt’s effort to simply get the top rate reduced by just .50% this year, ultimately settling for half that amount and a cut of .25%, from 4.75% to 4.50%. This is a 5.10% decrease, whereas Mazzei claims he will ask for 33.33%. This will not get approved by the legislature and here’s why: Losing 1/3 of our tax revenue from individuals equates to $1.2 billion of budget deficits, which will have to be somehow paid for through budget cuts or made up for with other sources of revenue.
Mazzei next promises to eliminate property taxes for Oklahoma seniors and veterans. Census data shows Oklahoma seniors account for around 20% of Oklahoma’s ad valorem taxes, which amount to roughly $1.5 billion of lost revenue for our schools, career tech, county government, health departments, public libraries, etc. $900 million of this would be taken from our already 50th ranked and arguably still underfunded public schools, and $225 million from career tech, which most everyone feels need to receive more funding. If you include Oklahoma veterans under the age of 65, you lose an additional $200 million. If you’re keeping score at this point, this is total lost tax revenue of nearly $3 billion annually.
Mike Mazzei knows this won’t happen, as the legislature will never approve it. Mazzei is simply buying votes with promise of tax cuts and writing checks that won’t clear the bank.
Mazzei builds his sales pitch on his background as a financial planner, equivocating helping people plan their retirement with running a state government and a $13 billon budget. He says, “I have a plan” ad nauseum on the stump and in interviews. However his plan is half baked, as it’s only a bunch of promises, otherwise known in planning parlance as “goals.” All good plans begin with goals, but that’s where Mazzei’s plan ENDS. Proper planning involves the HOW, and that’s where Mazzei’s plan gets murky. He’s making promises he knows he cannot keep, ones that will never occur in Oklahoma without massive tax increases in other areas. He talks about cutting spending, but offers little detail, as Oklahoma’s core services have been cut to the bone. It’s more fantasy than it is a plan.
Mike Mazzei is trying to buy Oklahoman’s votes with a plan built on sand. Don’t fall for it.
This article appears in America At 250.