After the legislature agreed to raise teachers’ pay, an anti-tax group tried to put a measure on the state ballot opposed to the tax hike to fund the raises.

Today the Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down the effort to conduct a state referendum on the tax hikes.

OKLAHOMA CITY — A referendum petition seeking to repeal tax hikes used to fund teacher raises is invalid, the Oklahoma Supreme Court said in a ruling issued Friday.

Oklahoma Taxpayers Unite! sought to ask voters to repeal House Bill 1010xx, which hiked taxes on cigarettes, little cigars, fuel and gross production.

State Question 799 drew two legal challenges before the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

“Upon review, we hold that the petition is legally insufficient and invalid,” the court opinion said.

It ordered SQ 799 stricken from the ballot.

The court ruled that failure to include the little cigar tax in the gist or summary of the petition was problematic.

“What is troublesome is the failure to make any mention (of) one of the five revenue sources at all,” the opinion said.

Without even a brief mention in the gist of all the taxes poised to be rejected, voters are fundamentally unable to cast and informed vote and will not be aware of the practical effect of the petition, the opinion said.