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1 STATE OF OKLAHOMA
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2 2nd Session of the 60th Legislature (2026)
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3 SENATE BILL 2059 By: Deevers
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6 AS INTRODUCED
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7 An Act relating to income tax; creating the Promote
7 Child Thriving Act; providing short title; stating
8 intent; providing credit for certain married
8 individuals with dependents; prescribing credit
9 amount; stipulating qualifications; requiring the
9 credit to be claimed on a form prescribed by the
10 Oklahoma Tax Commission; prohibiting refundability of
10 credit; providing for the carry forward of credit;
11 providing penalty; providing for noncodification;
11 providing for codification; providing an effective
12 date; and declaring an emergency.
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15 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
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16 SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law not to be
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17 codified in the Oklahoma Statutes reads as follows:
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18 This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Promote Child
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19 Thriving Act".
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20 SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law not to be
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21 codified in the Oklahoma Statutes reads as follows:
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22 The Legislature finds that:
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23 1. Children have a primal and indelible relation to their
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24 mother and father. It is a fundamental claim of justice that,
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1 whenever possible, children be raised in a marital home by the two
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2 persons whose union gave them life, bequeathed them their unique
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3 identity and characteristics, and joined them to a genealogical
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4 history of maternal and paternal kinship. It is a compelling state
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5 interest, priority, and responsibility to honor and protect the
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6 natural marital family context for the sake of children whose
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7 identity and life prospects are so substantially implicated by it;
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8 2. Accordingly, and as Justice Sotomayor summarized in her
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9 dissenting opinion in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, 570 U.S. 637,
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10 673 (2013) (Sotomayor, J., dissenting), that the biological bond
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11 between parent and child is meaningful, that children have an
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12 interest in knowing their biological parents, and that the
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13 deprivation of a child's relationship with mother or father is a
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14 loss that cannot be measured;
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15 3. The natural family relationship of husband and wife and
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16 their offspring is an aspect of human nature and community anterior
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17 to and transcending state discretion. As the Supreme Court
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18 acknowledged in Smith v. Org. of Foster Families for Equal & Reform,
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19 431 U.S. 816, 845 (1977), unlike, for instance, the state-initiated
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20 and -directed foster care relation, the natural family is "a
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21 relationship having its origins entirely apart from the power of the
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22 State," therefore has its unique prerogatives founded "in intrinsic
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23 human rights, as they have been understood in this Nation's history
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24 and tradition";
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1 4. Federal and state constitutional case law and historic state
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2 family law standards accord unique deference and protection to the
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3 marital relationship and the relation of natural mother and father
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4 to child, and that a child's loss of relationship with the child's
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5 mother or father is a lamentable outcome that venerable legal
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6 standards aim to discourage and avoid;
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7 5. Evidence from multiple areas of study reveals that children
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8 who grow up apart from one or both biological parents tend, by
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9 statistically significant margins, to fare worse and to be
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10 substantially disadvantaged compared to cohorts of children raised
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11 by their mother and father in a marital household. And that:
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12 a. biological parents are statistically the safest, most
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13 connected to, most invested in, and most protective
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14 adults in a child's life. Children who are raised by
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15 both biological parents in a married relationship
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16 suffer the lowest rates of obesity, drug use, and
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17 incarceration. They have the highest rates of
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18 academic success and emotional health, and are most
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19 likely to escape or avoid poverty,
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20 b. loss of a parent affects a child's physical,
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21 mental/emotional, and educational outcomes,
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22 c. cohabitation of a child's biological parents does not
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23 produce the same benefit for children. Studies show
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24 the nonmarital cohabitation relationship of a child's
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1 mother and father is not a benefit equivalent to a
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2 home of a married father and mother, citing increased
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3 risk of parental breakup, abuse, and poverty,
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4 d. there are no known remedial government programs or
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5 subsidies which can replace or compensate for the loss
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6 to children of an upbringing in the marital home of
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7 their mother and father, and
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8 e. being raised outside of the home of a child's married
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9 biological parents tends toward multigenerational
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10 continuation. Data reveals that children of single
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11 mothers are more likely to have children out of
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12 marriage, children of divorce are more likely to
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13 themselves divorce, and children created via third-
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14 party sperm or egg are more likely to dissociate
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15 themselves from their genetic children via "donating"
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16 when they reach adulthood. Failing to fortify a
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17 child's family leads to future broken families;
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18 6. The clear connection between natural parental bonds and
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19 child welfare obligates the state to incentivize homes that unite
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20 children to both mother and father. Studies show that the best
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21 means to achieve that end is to encourage biological parents to be
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22 married to one another;
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23 7. This state's financial incentivizing of children's
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24 upbringing in a home with their married mother and father will
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1 minimize the need for government anti-poverty funds, child
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2 protective services, academic support, police involvement, and other
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3 state emergency or remedial aid;
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4 8. Adoptive parents, widowed parents, and other guardians may
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5 provide loving and stable homes for children and that such
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6 relationships may warrant distinct consideration under other
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7 provisions of law; and
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8 9. The purpose of this act is not to disparage or diminish
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9 those households, but to address a specific, empirically documented
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10 state interest: incentivizing the formation and preservation of
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11 marital households uniting children with their biological mother and
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12 father, which the Legislature finds to be uniquely associated with
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13 the highest aggregate outcomes for child thriving and long-term
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14 public welfare.
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15 SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
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16 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 2357.701 of Title 68, unless
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17 there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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18 A. For tax year 2026 and subsequent tax years, there shall be
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19 allowed a credit against the tax imposed pursuant to Section 2355 of
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20 Title 68 of the Oklahoma Statutes for married mothers and fathers of
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21 biological children in the following amounts:
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22 1. Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for each child under eighteen
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23 (18) years of age and residing in the parents' home while the
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24 child's biological mother and father are married to each other; and
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1 2. One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) for each child under
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2 eighteen (18) years of age if the child's biological mother and
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3 father were married prior to the child's birth.
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4 B. To qualify for the credit authorized pursuant to subsection
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5 A of this section, the biological parents shall:
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6 1. Be listed on the birth certificate of the dependent or be
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7 the custodial parent during the entirety of the tax year;
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8 2. Reside in the same household as the dependent for at least
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9 six (6) months of the tax year, except when:
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10 a. a biological parent is enlisted as an active duty
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11 member of the Armed Forces of the United States and
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12 deployed for at least six (6) months of the tax year,
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13 or
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14 b. the dependent is born during the tax year; and
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15 3. Be married for the entirety of the tax year.
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16 C. The credit authorized pursuant to this section shall be
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17 claimed on a form prescribed by the Oklahoma Tax Commission and
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18 shall include, under penalty of perjury, the following statements of
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19 attestation:
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20 1. That the taxpayers are legally married;
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21 2. That the taxpayers have resided in the same household with
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22 the child for at least six (6) months of the calendar year
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23 corresponding to the tax year for which the credit is claimed,
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1 unless exempted pursuant to paragraph 2 of subsection B of this
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2 section; and
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3 3. That the dependent is the biological child of the taxpayers.
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4 D. The credit allowed pursuant to the provisions of this
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5 section shall not be used to reduce the income tax liability of the
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6 taxpayer to less than zero (0).
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7 E. If the amount of the credit allowed pursuant to this section
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8 exceeds the income tax liability, the amount of credit not used in
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9 any tax year may be carried forward, in order, to each of the ten
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10 (10) subsequent tax years.
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11 F. Claims for credit pursuant to this section that contain
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12 fraudulent information shall be denied, and the Tax Commission shall
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13 recover any allowed credit claimed with fraudulent information and
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14 may levy penalties in an amount not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars
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15 ($500.00).
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16 SECTION 4. This act shall become effective July 1, 2026.
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17 SECTION 5. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
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18 of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby
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19 declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and
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20 be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
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22 60-2-3468 QD 1/15/2026 11:21:30 AM
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Req. No. 3468 Page 7Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.