Debate rages over how to tax oil production

Oklahoma's Democratic candidate for governor is calling for an end to oil production tax incentives, but lawmakers and observers said getting that policy through after one of the state's largest tax increases in history would be a difficult feat. Drew Edmondson held a press conference on Sept. 7 with former University of Oklahoma President David Boren to discuss the state's education needs. In that conference, as well as several other times during public addresses, Edmondson said Oklahoma schools still face dire underfunding. His push to fix that: raising taxes on cigarettes and putting an end to capital gains exemptions and incentives on oil production. The announcement drew an immediate backlash from industry representatives and some in the business community.