The Senate Finance Committee approved a bill last week that would, beginning in July, gradually eliminate the sales tax on groceries sold in Oklahoma over five years.

The proposal by Sen. Mike Mazzei, R-Tulsa, calls for a yearly 0.9 percent reduction in grocery taxes from its current level of 4.5 percent. This gradual reduction will occur until the tax is completely eliminated by July 2013.

This decrease would result in a $44 million tax revenue reduction for the state in its first year in effect, according to the Oklahoma Tax Commission. Once the tax cut is completely implemented, approximately $245 million would be eliminated from the state tax revenue.

Mazzei said the bill would be worth the reduction in tax revenue because many other states do not have grocery taxes.

“It’d be nice to level the playing field for the people of Oklahoma,” Mazzei said.

Sen. Johnnie Crutchfield, D-Ardmore, said he disagrees with the proposal because he thinks cutting taxes would be irresponsible in a year when Oklahoma has a potentially large budget deficit.

“The problem with that is that we’re $600 million in the hole,” Crutchfield said.

He was the only senator to vote against the bill when the Senate Finance Committee approved it.

Crutchfield said he does not see how cutting taxes would be possible unless Oklahoma receives a large amount of money from a national stimulus package, or Gov. Brad Henry dips into the state’s Rainy Day fund.

“My problem was, in the budget year we’re in,” he said, “how are you going to do it?”

Crutchfield called the bill a “fairy tale,” saying he does not think the proposal will pass because the money is not available.

Mazzei said it would be difficult to pass the bill this year due to the budget deficit, but said he thinks Oklahoma citizens appreciate the effort.

“I’ve heard from lots of constituents who think that focusing on this issue over and over until we get it done is something they appreciate,” he said.

Other legislators have also proposed similar bills that aim to lower the cost of buying groceries.

Sen. Randy Brogdon, R-Owasso, has proposed a bill that would completely eliminate the sales tax on groceries effective July 1, 2009.

Rep. John Trebilcock, R-Broken Arrow, and Sen. Andrew Rice, D-Oklahoma City, also have proposed a bill that would increase the tax credit available to people who earn less than a certain amount of money annually. Trebilcock and Rice’s bill would also increase the eligibility for that tax credit from yearly earnings of $50,000 to yearly earnings of $60,000.