Oklahoma Senate approves amendment to reduce supermajority requirement for sales tax increases

Tomorrow: Second statewide primary of 2018 will take place in Illinois & Filing deadline for Colorado candidates Oklahoma Senate approves amendment to reduce supermajority requirement for sales tax increases, House approval would send the amendment to the ballot On March 14, 2018, the Oklahoma State Senate approved a constitutional amendment to lower the supermajority requirement for bills increasing sales taxes in a vote of 29-17 with two excused. Nine Republicans joined all eight Democrats to oppose the amendment. Of the remaining Republicans, 29 voted in favor, and two were excused. This measure would amend the state constitution to reduce the supermajority vote requirement in the legislature to pass bills increasing sales taxes without voter approval. The amendment, if it is sent to the November 2018 ballot by majority approval in the House and is approved by voters, will change the vote requirement in the legislature to pass sales tax increases from a three-fourths (75 percent) supermajority to a three-fifths (60 percent) supermajority. The current law requiring voter approval of any tax increases without a three-fourths supermajority vote in both chambers of the legislature was enacted through a citizen initiative in 1992. In the Senate, Republicans hold a 40-8 majority over Democrats, which is an 83 percent supermajority. In the state House, however, Republicans do not hold the three-fourths majority required to pass tax increases, which means some Democratic support is required under current law to pass revenue increases. Republicans control 73 of the 101 seats in the House. The governor is also a Republican, making Oklahoma a Republican trifecta. During the 2018 session, a bill to increase taxes on tobacco, beer, fuel, and oil and gas development failed in the state House; 71 representatives voted in favor of the bill—five votes short of the required three-fourths supermajority—and 27 voted against it. In August 2017, the Oklahoma Supreme Court overturned a state law establishing a fee of $1.50 per pack of cigarettes because it was passed without the required three-fourths supermajority. [Learn more]( [Forward This](mailto:?&cc=info@Ballotpedia.org&subject=Check out this info I found from Ballotpedia&body= [blank][Tweet This]( [blank][blank][Send to Facebook]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [blank] Tomorrow: Second statewide primary of 2018 will take place in Illinois Illinois will hold the second statewide primary election of 2018 on Tuesday. Elections will be held for the U.S. House, state executive offices, the state legislature, state supreme court, intermediate appellate courts, and municipal and judicial positions at the county level. The Democratic Party currently holds an 11-7 majority in the U.S. House. There is one open seat in the 4th Congressional District, which is currently held by Luis Gutierrez (D). Of the incumbents seeking re-election, 47.1 percent face a primary challenger. A total of 66.7 percent of all possible U.S. House primaries in Illinois are contested in 2018. Six state executive offices are on the ballot in Illinois in 2018: governor and lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, and comptroller. Incumbents filed for re-election in all but the attorney general race. Half of all state executive primaries are contested in Illinois in 2018. There are 157 seats in the state legislature up for election in 2018: 39 seats in the Illinois State Senate and all 118 state House seats. There are 28 open seats in the state legislature, and an average of 19.4 percent of all state legislative primaries are contested in 2018. The term of one justice on the Illinois Supreme Court, Anne M. Burke, will expire in December. Burke must stand for retention in order to remain on the bench. At the intermediate appellate court level, there are three seats up for regular election. Two of those incumbents must stand for retention, and one must stand for partisan election. There are also two vacant seats up for election. Ballotpedia is covering municipal and local judicial elections in all counties that intersect with one of the 100 largest cities in the United States by population. This includes Cook County, Illinois, which is holding elections for county commission president, county commissioner, county assessor, county clerk, county sheriff, county treasurer, county board of review commissioner, county water reclamation district board member, circuit court judgeships, and subcircuit court judgeships. [Learn more→]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Tomorrow: Filing deadline for Colorado candidates The filing deadline for candidates running in Colorado elections is tomorrow, March 20. Federal and state offices on the ballot this year will include seven U.S. House seats, seven executive offices including the governor and attorney general, 17 of 35 state Senate seats, all 65 state House seats, one seat on the state supreme court, and three seats on the state court of appeals. Local elections within Ballotpedia’s coverage scope will include county offices in Adams, Arapahoe, and El Paso counties. Ballotpedia's featured elections in Colorado this year include the Democratic primaries for governor and the general election contests for the 6th Congressional District, governor, secretary of state, and attorney general. The state’s primary is June 26, and the general election is on November 6, 2018. This and Pennsylvania will be the 23rd and 24th state candidate filing deadline in the nation to pass. [Learn more→]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Ballotpedia depends on the support of our readers. The Lucy Burns Institute, publisher of Ballotpedia, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All donations are tax deductible to the extent of the law. Donations to the Lucy Burns Institute or Ballotpedia do not support any candidates or campaigns. [Please click here to support our work→]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Follow on Twitter]( [Friend on Facebook]( Copyright © 2018, All rights reserved. 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