Anti-tax group ads unclear on what taxes opposed

A group formed earlier this year to fight tax proposals in the Oklahoma Legislature has been sponsoring ads on Facebook that make what could be confusing claims about lawmakers' voting records on taxes.

One ad by the group, No New Oklahoma Taxes, praises Rep. Meloyde Blancett, D-Tulsa, for voting against "business-killing legislation" and features a photo of her with a green banner that reads "No to New Taxes. Good for business."

Blancett voted for a $474 million tax package to fund teacher pay raises. That package included increases in taxes on motor fuels, cigarettes and some oil and gas production.

Blanceett said in an email, "The post attempts to portray me as a Representative who voted against revenue raising measures, which is untrue."

However, Blancett did vote against a separate bill that would have removed a tax incentive for the wind industry. The incentive will cost the state up to $750 million over the next ten years. The bill to kill the incentive never became law.

Rep. Matt Meredith, a Democrat from Cherokee County, was also the subject of an ad praising him for not voting for "business-killing legislation." Meredith also voted for the tax package for teacher raises but against ending the wind power incentive.

The group targeted Republican Rep. Bobby Cleveland, of Slaughterville, with a Facebook ad blasting him for supporting "tax increases that will hurt Oklahomans. In fact, Rep. Bobby Cleveland voted for the largest spending bill in state history."

Cleveland voted against the hikes in motor fuels, cigarette and oil and gas production taxes. But he supported the legislation to remove the incentive for wind energy.

John Collison, the executive director of No New Oklahoma Taxes, said in a statement to The Oklahoman, "Our group is not going to engage in a back and forth or discuss the tactics around information education efforts we undertake focusing on the issues facing Oklahoma policymakers."

Collison said the group is a grassroots network of more than 10,000 concerned citizens on social media networks. 

"Our Oklahoma government has enough money," Collison said. "they do not need to continue raising taxes on Oklahoma families and businesses."

Collison was a top official at the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, as was another organizer of No New Oklahoma Taxes. The group was formed as a social welfare organization under federal tax law and does not have to reveal its financial donors.

The farm organization opposed tax changes that would negatively affect the wind industry. 

Mark Yates, a former Oklahoma Farm Bureau staff member who now lobbies for the wind coalition in Oklahoma, said in February that the coalition had “zero involvement” with No New Oklahoma Taxes.

Blancett said Thursday, "Everyone has a right to express their opinion. But I firmly believe we as citizens have the right to know whose voice/s we are listening to. And particularly when these people use dark money to manipulate the truth, the right to know who is behind the action is imperative. There is a reason these kinds of organizations use dark money and refuse to disclose their backers."