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Lawmakers Agree to Eliminate Oklahoma’s Grocery Sales Tax
news
February 28, 2024
Lawmakers Agree to Eliminate Oklahoma’s Grocery Sales Tax
By KEATON ROSS DEMOCRACY/CRIMINAL JUSTICE REPORTER,

Oklahomans will soon get a little wiggle room in their grocery budget.

The Senate on Thursday morning overwhelmingly agreed to send House Bill 1955, a carryover bill from 2023 that eliminates the 4.5% state portion of the grocery sales tax, to Gov. Kevin Stitt’s desk. Stitt, who has vowed to sign any tax cut legislation that reaches his desk, celebrated the news on X.

The measure, which is expected to have a $418 million annual fiscal impact, should take effect in late August. Municipalities will retain their authority to tax groceries and food items.

Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, said last month his caucus was open to tax cuts but first wanted to receive final budget projections from the state Board of Equalization. After that report came back with a positive outlook, Treat said he settled on a grocery tax cut because it would provide quick relief to the largest swath of Oklahomans.

“Some choose to look at it as $418 million in revenue lost,” Treat said on the Senate floor, referencing the proposal’s anticipated annual fiscal impact. “But I ask you to look at it as $418 that Oklahomans get to keep in their pockets.”

Just two Senators, Roger Thompson, ROkemah and Mary Boren, D-Norman, voted against the measure. Thompson, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he fears longterm consequences of the cut should the state face an economic downturn.

“I believe it looks better on a bumper sticker than it does in the same budget,” Thompson said.

Oklahoma is one of 13 states to impose a tax on groceries. Of those 13 states, eight have a reduced tax rate for food items, according to the AARP.

Opponents of the grocery sales tax have long argued that it disproportionately burdens the poor and middle class who spend a greater portion of their income on groceries. While proposals to cut the state grocery sales tax have been considered for several years, and often garnered bipartisan support, concerns about the long term effects of cutting the revenue source stalled progress.

House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka and Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, DOklahoma CIty, praised the Senate’s action in separate media statements. McCall urged the Senate to also cut state income taxes, though Treat has stated the Senate will not take up any more tax cut proposals this session.

“There is continued work to be done to give Oklahomans back more of their hard-earned money,” McCall said in the statement. “While the grocery tax is a good first step, it is not the only action needed to accomplish that goal. The House always knew this legislation would pass if put up for a vote, and we feel the same way about the .25% income tax cut.”

Jefferson Highway keeps on rollin’
A: Main, news
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By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
June 11, 2025
Long before Route 66, there was the Jefferson Highway. Route 66 was a federally funded, 2,448-mile highway that crossed the country going east and west from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, Californ...
A: Main, news
Jacob Foos re-hired as Eufaula City Manager
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It was a surprise hire, but not a total surprise as former Eufaula City Manager Jacob Foos was rehired as Eufaula’s city manager. The hiring took place following an executive session at a special meet...
A: Main, news
Complications of finding a city manager
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Jeb Jones resigned as city manager in April. He was hired in 2022 to replace Jacob Foos, who had resigned months earlier and became assistant city manager in the City of Shawnee. Andrea Weckmuel-ler B...
A: Main, news
LEA Poker Run Saturday
June 11, 2025
The Golden Eagle Poker Run, one of the most popular events on Lake Eufaula, is Saturday, June 14. This year’s theme is Pirates & Parrots, so get your crew and costumes ready for a day of high seas adv...
McIntosh County Democrat wins Sequoyah Award
A: Main, news
McIntosh County Democrat wins Sequoyah Award
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The Oklahoma Press Association presented its Better Newspaper Contest Awards during the OPA Annual convention June 6-7, at the Grand Casino Hotel and Resort in Shawnee. The top award a newspaper can r...
A: Main, news
Commissioners getting an increase in road spending
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June 11, 2025
Rep. Tim Turner, R-Kinta, announced some good news and some bad news at the Monday morning Monthly County Commissioner meeting. First, the bad news, at least for those who oppose wind turbines in the ...
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Bridge dedicated to World War II veteran
A: Main, news
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The Oklahoma Department of Transportation recently honored the late veteran William “Bill” Antrum Fox Jr. by naming a bridge after him. The William A. Fox Jr. Memorial Bridge is on SH 9 East at Nine M...
A: Main, news
Ten Mile Yard Sale this weekend
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Bring an umbrella Bargain hunters set your alarms. The annual 10-milelong yard sale begins at 7 a.m. Sunday, stretching from the east end of Eufaula, down SH 9 east through Longtown and past Enterpris...
Preliminary set for 2 suspected of killing Eufaulan
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Two Muskogee men charged with killing a Eufaula resident were ordered to appear at a preliminary hearing in district court at 10 a.m., Thursday, July 3. Suspects Kyren Omari Boulware, 19, and Michael ...
2 dead, 4 injured in pileup
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Two people from Marshall, Texas were killed, and four others were injured in a harrowing four-vehicle pileup on U.S. 69 half a mile south of the Muskogee City Limits at about 2:20 p.m. on Monday, June...
Fink inducted into OPA Half Century Club
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Managing Editor Jerry Fink of The Eufaula Indian Journal and the McIntosh County Democrat was inducted into the Oklahoma Press Association Half Century Club on Saturday, June 7 at the Grand in Shawnee...
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