State tax revenues continue to skyrocket. January receipts of $1.5 billion are up 27% from January of 2021. In the last 12 months, revenues ($15.5 billion) rose 18% over the previous 12-month period.

What is going on?

State Treasurer Randy McDaniel said Oklahoma’s economy is growing but the infusion of federal funds and inflation are making the numbers bigger.

Joe Biden’s administration is giving away money faster than it can be printed. The federal deficit is now more than $30 trillion. Inflation in Oklahoma in the past year rose to 7% – the highest increase since the galloping inflation of 1982.

Even though Biden is trying to destroy the energy industry, gross production revenue from oil and natural gas is up 149%, thanks in part to foreign countries putting the squeeze on production.

Use taxes for Oklahoma – sales tax paid on out-of-state purchases – topped $100 million in January. That is the highest ever.  In fact, every category of tax collection is rising in Oklahoma.

What should the state do with this windfall?

First, Gov. Kevin Stitt is exactly right in wanting to set aside surplus funds for when the cycle turns toward falling revenues.

Secondly, the state should retire some of the billions of dollars in debt. That isn’t going to happen because the Democrats and the Republican leadership want to use excess funds to buy votes, not to be fiscally responsible.

Thirdly, Oklahomans should get a tax cut. That won’t happen either because lawmakers respond more to agencies (like public education) than to the ordinary Oklahoman. Cutting the state sales tax on groceries would be a good start.

Let’s hope Stitt and other fiscal conservatives prevail in this “time of plenty.”