Senator Lankford discussed the impacts of the Working Families Tax Cuts Act on Oklahoma taxpayers this year and how it is keeping tax policy the same for individuals and businesses.
Senator Lankford says without the bill, we would have “huge economic downturn to our state and to our country.”
One change Lankford focused on is full expensing, where individuals and businesses can now write off the full cost of large equipment, like trucks or tractors, in the year they buy it rather than over years at a time.
Lankford says this is a big deal to Oklahomans because “That makes a huge difference for that small business and that manufacturer to be able to depreciate their equipment in the year they buy it, rather than have to stretch it out over years. But it makes no difference to the federal treasury. Now, CBO would say that’s a huge loss to the treasury. In real-life terms, it’s actually not a loss. So the challenge we have is real math and Washington DC math.”
Lankford also addressed the proposal for a new ICE processing center in southwest Oklahoma City.
He says he has not yet spoken to the Mayor of Oklahoma City, but has been in contact with DHS, saying, “This is another detention and transfer facility, very similar to what we have in the federal transfer facility for prisoners right next to the airport that has been there for decades. That facility is not meant to be able to house people long-term. It’s a transfer facility where people come in, they get processed, and then they go out from there. ”
The 415 thousand square-foot facility would sit just over a mile away from Western Heights Schools; however, Lankford says this won’t pose a safety concern, saying, “To have a facility that’s a transfer facility doesn’t mean people are walking the streets and around everything. You’re talking a mile away from the school, and if you’re a mile away from the school, we’re not worried about someone walking out of a transfer facility. People don’t walk out of the current transfer facility; that’s the federal transfer facility, three miles away from there. They’re not going to walk out of this one either.”
Lankford addressed this process, and in addition to the area, it is no more dangerous than what is already happening regarding the Federal Transfer Center, which is located over 5 miles away from the proposed ICE processing center.
“The federal transfer facility that’s in Oklahoma City already for federal prisoners handles some of the most dangerous prisoners in the entire country every single day. So the sense of if we have a transfer ICE facility here, it puts the city at risk. I think people have lost focus of that, we already have the most dangerous criminals in America coming through Oklahoma City every single day in the federal transfer facility.”
Lankford mentioned that Oklahoma City wants to go through an “apartmenting process,” however says “Federal facilities partner with cities to be able to work through this, but a city’s zoning can’t come in and tell the federal government, you can’t do this. If that was true, every city in America would actually run the federal government, and that’s not the way that federalism works.”
Finally, Lankford did comment on when we asked about President Trump’s plans in Greenland and told us, “There is no invasion of Greenland. There is no plan.”
