HB 1572 Oklahoma House · 2026 Regular Session

Tourism; increasing apportionment to Tourism funds; removing apportionment cap; limiting funds for operations; eliminating prohibition to spend certain funds on salaries; effective date; emergency.

HB 1572 modifies Oklahoma's sales tax apportionment to increase funding for tourism. It removes a $5 million annual cap on the Oklahoma Tourism Promotion Revolving Fund, raises the percentage of sales tax revenue allocated to tourism from 0.87% to 1.0% for fiscal years 2026 and beyond, and changes the distribution to 36% for Promotion, 64% for Capital Improvement, and $6.6 million for Route 66. The bill also eliminates restrictions prohibiting tourism funds from covering salaries. These changes directly affect the Oklahoma Tourism Promotion, Capital Improvement, and Route 66 Commission funds, increasing their available resources for operations and projects.

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 3, 2025 Last action Feb 11, 2026

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What changed between versions

Introduced → Proposed Committee Substitute (full committee) 1 · 6 edits

MODERATE

The bill was completely rewritten from a tourism-focused measure to a revenue and taxation bill. The original version allocated sales tax revenues to tourism and education funds with specific apportionment percentages, while the new version creates a tax deduction for investments in Oklahoma venture capital companies. This represents a fundamental shift from funding tourism initiatives to incentivizing private investment through tax benefits.

Scope change

Changed from tourism and education funding to revenue and taxation incentives for venture capital investments

SCOPE

Removed all provisions related to tourism funding and education reform revolving funds

ELIGIBILITY

Added new eligibility criteria for accredited investors and eligible Oklahoma venture capital companies

DEFINITION

Created new definitions for 'accredited investor', 'eligible Oklahoma business venture', 'eligible Oklahoma venture capital company', 'lawful business entity', and 'qualified equity investment'

FISCAL

Established a $25 million cap on qualified equity investments per taxable year for tax deduction purposes

TIMELINE

Changed applicable tax years from 2003-2028 to 2022-2031

REQUIREMENT

Replaced apportionment percentages for various state funds with a tax deduction structure for venture capital investments

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

Recommendation to the full committee; Do Pass Appropriations and Budget Finance Subcommittee

lower

Feb 4, 2025

Committee

Referred to Appropriations and Budget Finance Subcommittee

lower

Feb 3, 2025

Introduced

First Reading

lower

2 primary · 0 co-sponsors