Sen. Randy Brogdon said a handful of lawmakers speaking out against $58 million in tax relief on Monday were simply using scare tactics when they said the cuts would harm education, roads and other state-funded entities.

“What we want to do is make sure Oklahomans keep more of their own money to reinvest in businesses and services across our state. That’s the kind of investment that will really help our economy grow as opposed to overtaxing our citizens to fund bigger government,” said Brogdon, R-Owasso.

“The truth is that even with this proposed tax relief, we’re still talking about record investments this year in education and roads. And ultimately, this money doesn’t belong to the state—it belongs to the people. We’re just giving back what was theirs from the start.”

Brogdon said the fiscal year 2006 budget would include $750 million more dollars—with the bulk of that to be reinvested in key areas such as common education.

“Since statehood, the Democrats have basically had control of the purse strings. I find it very disingenuous that now they’re complaining about not investing enough in state funded programs and the cost to taxpayers. When you talk about tax cuts you aren’t talking about a cost to taxpayers—you’re talking about a savings to taxpayers. That’s the kind of relief that will fuel our economy and benefit our entire state,” Brogdon said.

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