A D V O C A C Y As the voice of the Oklahoma City business community in the halls of government, the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber is committed to pursuing public policies that will improve our business climate and positively impact Oklahoma’s growing economy. HISTORIC TEACHER PAY RAISE ACHIEVED
HOTEL/MOTEL TAX SUCCESSFULLY REPEALED The $447 million revenue package to fund the teacher pay increase originally contained a $5 per night hotel/motel occupancy tax that would have catapulted Oklahoma City from 71st-highest occupancy tax among the 150 largest U.S. cities to the highest in the country (Tulsa would have moved up to No. 3). With Oklahoma City’s state- of-the-art $288 million convention center and 605-room Omni Convention Center Hotel under construction, the imposition of such a tax would have impacted Oklahoma City’s ability to recruit conventions. The Chamber engaged with partners in the tourism and hospitality industries and successfully lobbied for repeal of this $50 million tax, which was replaced in the revenue package by an online sales tax and the allowance of ball-and- dice games at tribal casinos.
The achievement of a teacher pay increase of at least $5,000 per year has been a top priority for the Chamber for the past two years. The pay increase of $6,100 (on average) enacted by HB 1023xx was needed to retain and attract high-quality teachers in Oklahoma. While the Chamber didn’t agree with all the proposed revenue measures, the $447 million revenue plan represented a historic outcome: it was not only the first tax increase passed by the Legislature since State Question 640 was adopted in 1992, but also it funded the largest teacher pay increase in state history. MAJOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE The Chamber has been a strong advocate for legislation and funding for sentencing reform and rehabilitation/treatment programs to ease the financial drain on Oklahoma’s criminal justice system. During the 2018 session, the Chamber worked with Gov. Mary Fallin, legislative leadership, the District Attorneys Council, the State Chamber and others to negotiate and pass legislation that allowed nine key reform measures to be signed into law. The Chamber-backed SB 363, which provides special district court judges clear authority to issue pretrial release orders in appropriate cases, was the first policy bill signed by Gov. Fallin during the 2018 session. These critical bills will reduce the projected 25 percent increase of Oklahoma’s prison population by 2026 that, if left unaddressed, would require Oklahoma to construct three new prisons at a cost of $1.9 billion to taxpayers. REFORM MEASURES SIGNED INTO LAW
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