OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) – Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt says cutting the state’s income tax, making Oklahoma the best state for business and enacting tort reform are some of his top priorities for 2025.
Stitt held his first weekly news conference of the year on Wednesday, a week ahead of his State of the State address and the start of the new legislative session.
The governor listed his four primary focuses of the year. Making Oklahoma a top business state and getting tort reform signed into law are key among them.
“I’m really looking forward to a great, great [legislative] session. I think both chambers are looking forward to working together this year. And it’s going to be a successful session,” Stitt said. “One of the big things I’m focused on is to rally Oklahomans around some principles that we can all agree with. I think it’s what Oklahomans sent us here to do.”
Stitt listed his four primary focuses for the new legislative session as follows:
- Taxes
- Making Oklahoma the best state for business
- Safeguarding savings
- Protecting the Oklahoma way of life
Cutting taxes is a significant difference maker for getting Oklahoma ahead, Stitt said.
“It’s what I truly believe in my heart will continue to make Oklahoma a top 10 state,” he said. “I’ve been saying for six years now, we need more taxpayers, not more taxes.”
Tax cuts result in revenue increases for the state, according to Stitt.
“What people don’t realize is when we give money back to the taxpayer, the money doesn’t disappear. It just stays in the citizens pockets. And I believe that they can spend their money better than the government can,” Stitt said.
The governor said that his goal this year is “a half and a path,” which he described as a half a point income tax reduction from the current 4.75 percent rate to a 4.25 percent rate. He said it’s an action that will start a path towards zero income tax in Oklahoma.
“We’re not cutting core services, but what that will do is it limits the growth of government,” he said.
Stitt touted Oklahoma’s economy and said the state should not continue raising base-level expenses.
“We need to give that money back to the taxpayers in the form of a tax cut. We’ve done it before,” Stitt said.
The governor then referenced ending the grocery tax last year, saying it’s the biggest tax cut in Oklahoma’s history.
Stitt called special sessions for income tax reductions last year, but neither proved fruitful.
“So, I hope to get half and path done, this year, and I think the Senate and the House are ready to deliver on that,” he said.
Business growth and development is essential to growing the state as a whole, Stitt said.
“If we make Oklahoma the best state for business, guess what? It makes Oklahoma the best state for education, the best state for infrastructure and the best state to raise our families,” Stitt said. “We want to signal to the business community that Oklahoma is the place to be headquartered.”
Stitt said the passage of Senate Bill 473 last year, which pursues the creation of business courts, will show major companies looking to expand into a new state that Oklahoma is a place where companies receive fair and expedient treatment in the courts. Business courts will specialize in resolving intricate commercial disputes in a fast, efficient manner that is cheaper for businesses.
“You see Delaware attacking Elon Musk’s company. It got into compensation that was negotiated by the board, so he pulled out of Delaware. You saw the court system attack President Trump’s business. I don’t want businesses to think that that could happen to them in Oklahoma. So, we’re going to set up business courts. It’s going to be live in 2026. I’m really excited about that,” Stitt said.
Stitt said he wants to make another cut to the business tax. Oklahoma has a 4.0 percent corporate income tax rate.
“I’ve cut it already by two points in Oklahoma. We want to cut another half a point [off] the business tax, which will also signal to businesses that they can set up and they could be successful here,” he said.
Stitt went on to reference his executive order from last year that mandated state agencies to improve efficiency in the processing and approval of state-issued permits for the purpose of facilitating a more business-friendly environment.
A more efficient permitting process is a feature that will help attract businesses to Oklahoma, Stitt said.
“Businesses want shovel-ready sites. They don’t want the endless bureaucracy that sometimes slows [businesses] down,” he said. “If you look at how long it takes to get a permit in California to build a house, [you’ll see] they’re in big trouble. They’re in big, big trouble with what’s happening out there. And our hearts go out to all the devastation that’s happened.”
Owners of businesses that were lost in the California wildfires may look to build elsewhere, Stitt said.
“You’re going to see people not rebuild. They’re going to come to states like Oklahoma because it’s going to be quicker, easier, and more affordable instead of having to go through the endless bureaucracy to get a simple permit. I’m always thinking about that layer of things,” he said.
Stitt also said that tort reform will ingratiate Oklahoma to companies looking to expand.
“Tort reform is something that businesses need assurance [on]. You can’t have runaway jury verdicts. That’s something that I think is really important,” Stitt said.
Stitt referenced previous tort reform achieved by former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating.
“He really focused on tort reform, and that’s something that we need to look at,” Stitt said. “Some of the courts have eroded some of the gains that he did back in the late 90s, and we’d like to get those things reinstated.”
Tort reform is an especially big concern within Oklahoma’s medical community, Stitt said.
“The doctors have come to me and said, ‘Governor, it is cheaper for us to set up shop with our malpractice insurance in Dallas, Texas, than it is in Oklahoma.’ I want Oklahomans to have access to all the doctors. I want more doctors per capita here than [there are] in Texas. I want it in rural Oklahoma,” Stitt said. “But you have to realize, these people are going to be making a decision on what’s best for them and their family as well, and we can’t have expenses to be an outlier. Everything is market. We have to compete with Texas and Arkansas and Kansas on tax policies. Make sure our insurance costs are comparable to the region that we compete in.”
Stitt also wants to safeguard the state’s savings. Oklahoma has $4.6 billion in savings.
“When I took office, you remember, we had almost no money in savings. And historically, that had been our pattern. We [then] built the largest savings account we’ve ever had. Our economy is the best it’s ever been,” Stitt said. “Let’s make sure that we don’t go back to those times when we didn’t have an adequate savings account.”
Stitt said protecting Oklahoma’s way of life is the final part of his 2025 plan.
“We’re going to protect our farmers. We’re going to deregulate. We’re going to make sure permits are timely. We’re going to make sure our regulatory bodies respond to our business needs. We’re going to make sure that with the influx of data centers and technology and people asking for more power that we’re going to encourage more power generation. We’re going to take clean burning natural gas and we’re going to turn it into electricity, and that this is going to turn into more jobs for our citizens. That’s something that we’re really blessed with in Oklahoma,” Stitt said. “I’m looking forward to a great session.”
