Thousands of people and businesses are leaving New York State and relocating to Florida. Likewise, tens of thousands of businesses and residents are exiting California for Texas.

Why?

The answer is simple. People and businesses are tired of the confiscatory tax rates in New York, California, Connecticut, Illinois and several other “progressive” states and are fleeing to the low-tax states of Texas, Florida, Idaho and some others.

The common denominator seems to that states with high income taxes are losing business and people to states with low or no state income tax.

There’s a lesson here for Oklahoma, especially the Republican leadership in the Legislature.

Progressives in Oklahoma blame “tax cuts” for the recent state downturn that was actually a result of Obama’s “Great Recession.” They actually argue that a 1/4 of 1 percent cut in the state income tax level (down to 5 percent) had a greater impact on the budget than when the price of a barrel of oil dropped from $100 a barrel to $40 a barrel. This lunacy is reinforced constantly in the liberal news media.

The irony is that Texas has no state income tax but high property taxes – much higher than Oklahoma. But the displaced California businesses are drawn more by the absence of state income tax than high property tax.

Oklahoma coffers are full. Get rid of the state income and people will come.