Our state is now facing a second year of a budget crisis; one that seems to be getting 

worse. As I implied when I first addressed this concern, Oklahoma is a state blessed by geology 

and cursed by geography. Oklahoma enjoys vast reserves of oil and gas and rich agricultural land. 

However, Oklahoma is located outside the two great population centers of the U.S. (that is, the 

West Coast and the region east of the Mississippi River). Thus, Oklahoma has always been, and 

for the foreseeable future, will be a state in which commodity prices play a major role. Because of 

this reality, as long as our tax system is so dependent on volatile commodity prices, budget crises 

like the one we currently face will be a reoccurring reality. However, the crisis that we currently 

face is also a result of an institutional flaw that has existed in Oklahoma for the entire history of 

the state.  Whenever times are good, many legislatures tend to spend money like there is no 

tomorrow. And when times are bad, many legislators and governors tend to either cut budgets 

haphazardly in order to reduce the deficit (for example, calling for across the board cuts), or 

institute permanent taxes that get us out of our temporary shortfalls, but swell the budget and 

scope of government when these crises end. 

The tourniquet tax that I proposed last month is an attempt to find a solution to the 

reoccurring budget shortfalls from which Oklahoma suffers every few years. When oil prices are 

low (and the budget faces a shortfall) gas taxes could be raised slightly to off set this shortfall. 

When oil prices rise (and state revenues improve) the tax would fall off. 

As I have made clear, we should not assign blame for this crisis to a single individual, or 

even a small group of people. Similarly, we should not look to a single individual to find a 

solution to this problem. I understand that there are very many people who understand the nature 

of this state’s budget crisis and the ramifications of implementing the tourniquet tax that I have 

proposed, much better than I do. Recognizing my own limitations, I presented my ideas 

concerning the tourniquet tax at an open forum hosted by the Grady County Tea party on March 

3rd. I invited members of the public to offer suggestions and criticisms concerning this new tax. 

As anyone familiar with Grady County politics can attest, no local group is more outspoken 

concerning issues relating to taxation than those affiliated with the Grady County Tea Party. 

Needless to say, the criticisms and suggestions offered where very insightful. Opinion was 

unanimous that this tax should have an automatic trigger whereby it would be implemented when 

oil prices fall to very low levels, and an automatic shutoff when oil prices rise to levels that bring 

temporary shortfalls to an end. In other words, decisions concerning when to implement this tax 

and when to remove it should not be subject to mere political considerations. Another helpful 

suggestion was that the amount this new tax would add to the price of gasoline should be 

determined by an automatic sliding scale that would be determined on a quarterly or biannual 

basis (in other words the tax could rise or fall depending on how low or high gas prices are). 

Finally, some suggested that should gas prices rise dramatically (say $6.00 or more a gallon) and 

the state suddenly received a budget windfall, perhaps the current 30 cent a gallon gas tax could 

even be lowered until the prices returned to more consumer-friendly levels.

Obviously, finding permanent solutions to Oklahoma’s reoccurring budget shortfalls (and 

particularly ones that will not permanently swell the budget) is going to be something that 

requires the input and support of many Oklahomans. However, to simply adopt the attitude that, 

“this to shall pass” is not acceptable. While oil prices will rise, and the state budge will once 

again stabilize, the results of this particular crisis – dramatic decreases to teacher morale, key 

infrastructures left in disrepair, etc. --  will linger for some time. We must remember that valuable 

lesson that all real adults understand: generally speaking, it is far less expensive to maintain 

something than to constantly replace something. Thus, when it comes to facing crises, it is time 

that Oklahomans to be proactive and not reactive. We must find  way of stabilizing the budget 

and reducing wild fluctuations in state revenues. The tourniquet tax seems to be a move in the 

right direction.