Reality is not optional

December 6, 2011

While our friends on the Left maintain that tax rates are not a significant factor in business location, states like Illinois are showing that, in reality, tax rates indeed are significant. In our recent analysis of phasing out Oklahoma’s personal income tax, the data express the reality that the Left continues to deny. For instance, if you look at employment growth over the last decade in no-income-tax states (5.36 percent) versus the highest-taxed states (-1.68 percent), the US average of all states (0.51 percent), and even Oklahoma (2.14 percent), the evidence is clear that eliminating the personal income tax would help bring jobs to the state.

The good news for Oklahomans is that the energy to phase out the State’s personal income tax is building, and some Oklahoma lawmakers seem to have a firm grasp of reality.