Today, we are introducing How We Got Here, a podcast from FKG Consulting produced by NonDoc. FKG Consulting is one of the top lobbying and political consulting firms in Oklahoma, and they approached us about co-producing a podcast that examines Oklahoma’s current state political situation by looking at historical events to gain a better understanding of how we got here.
On Feb. 5, the Oklahoma Legislature will convene for the 2018 regular session, although they are also currently in a special session that convened at the end of 2017. Lawmakers face the challenge of finalizing the 2017-2018 Fiscal Year budget, and they must also address a budget hole for the 2018-2019 Fiscal Year.
Gov. Mary Fallin and most lawmakers have called for new recurring revenue, but in 2017 no major tax package met the required three-fourths majority vote of both the House and Senate.
That requirement is mandated by Article 5 Section 33 of the Oklahoma Constitution, which was created when voters passed State Question 640 on the March 1992 primary ballot. But that state question’s passage did not occur in a vacuum. Rather, it was the culmination of a series of political events from the mid-1980s through the 1991 legislative session, wherein lawmakers passed House Bill 1017Â to hike education funding and teacher pay by raising taxes.
How We Got Here: Down to Brass Tax
Topics covered in Episode 1
In this first episode of How We Got Here, Bryan Fried and Alex Weintz of FKG Consulting join our editor in chief to consider State Question 640’s passage and its ramifications.
In this episode, you will hear discussion of:
- State Question 640
- House Bill 1017
- A 2004 cigarette tax hike (SQ 713)
- Teacher pay
- The early 1980s oil bust
- State Question 639
- The 2017 legislative sessions
- Gross production taxes
- Fuel taxes
- Cigarette taxes
- Lawmaker resignations
- Scandal at the Oklahoma State Department of Health
- The current Step Up Oklahoma proposal
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To stay aware of future How We Got Here podcasts, please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts or on our Podbean page. If you like what you hear, consider rating each episode to help spread the word of our future discussions.
