Senate Democrats Say ‘No’ to Elimination of Death Tax, Lawsuit Reform, Income Tax Cut

State Senate Democrats said “no” today to sending meaningful lawsuit reform, a record income tax cut, and a bill eliminating the state’s death tax to Gov. Brad Henry’s desk for his signature.

“Democrats are in the majority in the State Senate, and today Senate Democrats got their way by effectively killing lawsuit reform, income tax cuts, and the elimination of the death tax,” said Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City. “The priorities of the Senate won’t change until the leadership of the Senate changes.”

Senate Democrats voted on party lines to stop the Republican proposals from being sent to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.

“It was particularly disappointing to see Senators Daisy Lawler and Randy Bass flip-flop on the death tax bill by voting to kill it after they had just signed up as co-authors on the bill last week,” Coffee said. “It was also disappointing to see Sen. Paddack skip the vote on lawsuit reform after being present for previous votes this afternoon. She was the deciding vote on lawsuit reform – her absence helped the liberal Democrat leadership kill the bill.”

The bills effectively killed by Senate Democrats Tuesday were:

- Senate Bill 334 by Sen. Mike Mazzei, R-Tulsa: Eliminates the death tax (a.k.a. estate tax) on July 1, 2007.
- Senate Bill 2022 by Sen. Scott Pruitt, R-Broken Arrow: Reduces the state income tax to 4.9%.
- Senate Bill 1657 by Sen. Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City: Comprehensive lawsuit reform.