The Appropriations and Budget A & B finance subcommittee advanced several tax and revenue measures and laid over others during its meeting, voting to move multiple bills out of subcommittee for further consideration.

House Bill 1092, the Oklahoma Trade School Tuition Tax Credit, was presented as a three-year, $7,500-per-person credit intended to attract adult students into certified trade and infrastructure occupations. Vice Chair Eves, presenting the measure, said, “Once again, House Bill 10 92 is the Oklahoma Trade School Tuition Tax Credit. Everybody in this room understands Oklahoma faces issues as it pertains to workforce.” The measure passed the subcommittee on a 6-yes, 2-no vote.

The committee also advanced a slate of tax measures presented by Representative Maynard, including changes to the senior property tax-freeze calculation and a package of business-related tax bills. Representative Maynard described one item that “will move Oklahoma from a triple factor apportionment to a single factor apportionment model for corporate taxes,” explaining the change shifts apportionment to a sales-only factor rather than property, payroll and sales.

Representative Boles presented House Bill 1372, a three-year, 50% gross-production tax break aimed at encouraging private operators to remove wells from the state’s orphan and abandoned list and return them to production. Boles said the state currently has “18,000 wells that are on our orphan abandoned list” and noted the state faces “a $25,000 liability to plug” each well; the bill requires a $25,000 surety bond when a private company takes a well off the list. The committee approved that bill 8-0.

Representative Blansett’s bill to exempt certain vintage music and game machines from licensing fees — presented as a constituent request and described by the presenter as “a bit of a work in progress” — was laid over after members discussed unclear fiscal impacts and an initial estimate from the Tax Commission that a system change to classify machines could cost roughly $60,000 to implement. Blansett said state staff and members would continue to work on language and potential amendments before returning the measure.

Representative Kendrick proposed tying the state interest rate on underpayments of income tax to a market-based benchmark, suggesting a Wall Street prime plus 3% formulation so the rate “fluctuates with what the market rates are.” The proposal was approved by the subcommittee 8-0; members discussed that the change would lower the statutory 15% rate toward a rate in the neighborhood of about 10–10.5% under current market conditions.

Votes at a glance

- House Bill 1092 (Oklahoma Trade School Tuition Tax Credit): three-year, $7,500 per eligible person tax credit targeting state-recognized trade certifications; passed subcommittee, yes 6, no 2.
- House Bill 1198 (Senior property tax-freeze income calculation simplification): passed subcommittee, yes 8, no 0.
- House Bill 1200 (Corporate apportionment: triple to single factor for C corporations): passed subcommittee, yes 8, no 0.
- House Bill 1201 (Tax credit for donors to pregnancy resource centers): passed subcommittee, yes 8, no 0.
- House Bill 1372 (50% gross-production tax break for wells removed from orphan/abandoned list; three years): passed subcommittee, yes 8, no 0.
- House Bill 1471 (Exemption/relief for vintage music/game machines licensing fees): laid over for further work; fiscal and implementation details not finalized (Tax Commission estimated an initial systems cost ~ $60,000).
- House Bill 2730 (Adjust interest on tax underpayments to Wall Street prime + 3%): passed subcommittee, yes 8, no 0.
- House Bill 1267 (Eliminate bottom two personal income tax brackets): passed subcommittee, yes 8, no 0.

Discussion and context

Committee members’ remarks focused on policy intent and implementation specifics rather than producing amendments on the floor. Questions to authors commonly addressed eligibility thresholds and administrative implementation. On HB1092, members pressed whether the credit would simply subsidize students already enrolled in career-tech and similar programs; the bill’s sponsor said the intent was to reach people beyond typical high‑school programs — “people outside that have potentially been beyond the school age to take advantage” — and cover “any type state-recognized certification” in trades such as welding, HVAC and plumbing.

On the orphan-well incentive (HB1372), proponents framed the measure as a tool to reduce state plugging liabilities while encouraging private investment in workovers to return wells to production. Representative Boles emphasized both public-safety and environmental concerns and described the surety requirement that would accompany a private company’s assumption of a well.

Several bills drew only brief debate and were carried by unanimous subcommittee votes. Others were laid over so authors can work with staff on fiscal and administrative details; Representative Blansett asked to “work with the members of your committee and try to get some further work done on this bill and then bring it back after we’ve been able to do some offline work” regarding the vintage-machines proposal.

What the subcommittee did not resolve

- The exact fiscal exposure and implementation pathway for exempting vintage game and music machines from licensing fees; the Tax Commission reported no current data field to distinguish machine type or manufacture date without additional system work estimated at about $60,000.
- Detailed counts of orphan/abandoned wells that are candidates for return to production; the sponsor said an exact number of reactivation candidates is not available and depends on evolving technology and private investment.

Next steps

Bills that passed the subcommittee will move to the full Appropriations and Budget Committee or the next stage in committee process as appropriate. Measures that were laid over will return after authors and staff negotiate fiscal and drafting changes.

Ending note

The subcommittee concluded after advancing multiple revenue and tax measures and scheduling continued work on items that require additional fiscal analysis or drafting changes.