The race for governor of Oklahoma is heating up. The hotly contested Republican primary is in a runoff, between former state senator Mike Mazzei and Attorney General Gentner Drummond, to determine who will be on the ballot in November.

Mazzei has announced a plan to cut the state income tax and accelerate the existing plan to eliminate the tax entirely. 

“My plan is to clean up the silly tax code with all these deductions, exemptions and credits and take the income tax rate in the first year of a Mazzei administration from 4.5% to 3% as part one of our three-part strategy to make Oklahoma a no income tax state in six years,” Mazzei told Oklahoma Voice. 

He also discussed his tax plan during a primary debate, making clear that eliminating the income tax through plans that are revenue neutral – meaning they do not raise the tax burden overall – is a priority.

Mazzei has pointed to the state income tax cut revolution as a competition that Oklahoma is still not winning, saying,“We’re losing energy companies to Texas. The state of Tennessee has 58% more economic growth than we do. Why? They’re both no-income-tax states.” 

Oklahoma has enacted a landmark tax reform plan that has the state on a path to zero income tax. The plan also cut the top rate and reduced the number or tax brackets. This plan uses a ‘revenue trigger’ to gradually reduce income tax rates into the future. This trigger mandates a 0.25% rate reduction any time state total revenues exceed a revenue benchmark. 

These reforms are a massive win, though the revenue trigger is very conservative. Mazzei’s plans could accelerate how quickly the state eliminates the income tax simply by cutting tax rates – which would then require fewer quarter-point cuts to reach zero. Mazzei also outlined plans to simplify the tax code and expand the sales tax to generate more revenue, which then would be offset by income tax cuts. 

It will be vitally important that any larger tax reform package returns tax dollars to Oklahomans, and that spending is contained so any excess revenue leads to automatic rate cuts, rather than fueling bigger government. 

As of today, neither Mazzei or his opponent Gentner Drummond has signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge to commit in writing to oppose all tax hikes.