Oklahoma's personal income tax rate won't be cut this year

House and Senate Republican leaders remained at an impasse on reaching an agreement on cutting the personal income tax. Lawmakers are required to get their work done by 5 p.m. Friday.

“In the past few days it has become clear to me that the House and the Senate were not able to come to an agreement on a tax reduction plan,” Fallin said. “They're deadlocked.”

“If a special session was called, it appears unlikely that a deal would emerge between the House and Senate,” she said. “But I am certain that we will not let up on talking about tax reform and tax cuts this year. ... I still think it's the right thing to do to give tax relief to taxpayers. It is their money.”

The Republican governor said she believes GOP House and Senate members support reducing the personal income tax as a way to make Oklahoma more attractive to businesses.

“They've just not been able to come to a successful agreement on what that tax plan and what that tax cut would look like,” she said. “It's been disappointing to me. I've talked to many, many of the members and they too are disappointed that an agreement was not able to be reached.”

Fallin made her comments a week after she and GOP legislative leaders agreed on a plan that would have lowered the top personal income tax rate from 5.25 percent to 4.8 percent next year. The top tax rate would lower to 4.5 percent in 2015, provided the state's tax revenues grow by 5 percent.

House Republicans, concerned that a proposed plan to cut the personal income tax would result in some middle-class Oklahoma families having to pay more in taxes, came up with a different plan Wednesday.

The proposal called for three growth triggers that would reduce the top personal income tax rate of 5.25 percent down to 4.5 percent within three to 10 years, depending on revenue growth. The earliest the tax reduction plan could take effect would be Jan. 1, 2014.