In a plot twist straight out of a bad Western, Oklahoma’s oil and gas heavyweights are drawing their line in the sand against the very politicians who claim to be champions of low taxes. The Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma (PAO), the state’s top trade group for energy producers, just fired off a scathing letter to House Speaker Kyle Hilbert and Senate Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, blaming recent headquarters relocations—like Devon Energy and Expand Energy (formerly Chesapeake) packing up for Houston—on boneheaded policy moves from a decade ago.
PAO President Brook Simmons didn’t mince words, pointing the finger squarely at the 2018 HB 1010XX, which jacked up the gross production tax (GPT) on new oil and gas wells from 2% to 5% for the first 36 months. “If you want less of something—fewer leading Oklahoma businesses, less oil and natural gas production, and ultimately less revenue for public policy priorities—raise taxes on that thing and treat it with disdain as lawmakers did from 2015 to 2018,” Simmons wrote. This tax hike, he argues, planted the seeds for the exodus, turning Oklahoma into the only state to lose “advanced industry” jobs between 2019 and 2024, while rig counts plummeted faster than anywhere else.
And who were the architects behind this so-called “largest tax increase in Oklahoma history”? None other than then-House Speaker Charles McCall and Majority Floor Leader Jon Echols, who pushed HB 1010XX through amid teacher walkouts, promising it would fix education woes. Spoiler: It didn’t. Oklahoma still ranks dead last in education, and now we’re waving goodbye to major oil and gas producers who are following the likes of ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66, who also fled to Texas.
When these companies shift their headquarters out of state, it often means more than just a new address for the C-suite. Many employees, especially higher-level talent or those tied to corporate functions, end up relocating too, taking their salaries, spending, and tax contributions with them. That hits our local economy hard, dragging down GDP and leaving fewer dollars circulating in Oklahoma communities.
Can you truly run on tax cuts when you’re in fact the architects of the largest tax increase in modern Oklahoma history? Oklahoma Republicans should look to history for guidance on if they can trust politicians who campaign as conservatives, but govern as tax-raising, big government liberals. Fool me once? Shame on you. Fool me twice? Not a chance.
It’s high time the GOP stops treating the oil patch like an ATM and starts listening. Repeal that 2018 mess, or watch more jobs vanish into the Texas sunset.
The Mics are Off, but the Talk Never Stops
OK GOP Uncovered