OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Dozens of state tax credits will remain unavailable for two more years, and stricter oversight will be put in place before any more credits are renewed under a legislative plan announced Thursday by House leaders.

The extended moratorium applies to nearly three dozen tax credit programs that were suspended two years ago as a way to shore up a massive state budget shortfall. Several other tax credits offered by the state that escaped the moratorium will be added to the list, resulting in estimated savings of between $250 million to $300 million annually, House leaders projected.

“When you look at Oklahoma’s tax credits, to me it looks like a block of Swiss cheese, with no rhyme or reason whatsoever for all the holes and the cutouts that exist,” said House Speaker Kris Steele, R-Shawnee. “We believe it’s time to clean up our state’s tax code. We believe it’s time to wipe the slate clean and start all over.”

Among the tax credits lawmakers are targeting for suspension include those provided to companies that refurbish historic buildings, build energy efficient homes, install wind turbines or repair railroads. Others include millions of dollars in credits for investing in qualifying rural business ventures or producing coal.

The two-year moratorium will give lawmakers time to consider whether each credit is worthy and whether it meets a new set of criteria that lawmakers hope to have permanently placed into the state Constitution, said Rep. David Dank, the chairman of a task force that has been studying tax credits for the last several months.

“Let me be clear: this is simply a two-year moratorium,” said Dank, R-Oklahoma City. “Beginning next year those tax credit recipients can reapply under the new criteria, but their eligibility will have to be pre-approved by the Legislature. I believe we will find at that time that many of them will no longer meet the criteria.”

Among the criteria that Dank said lawmakers will consider is pre-approval by the Legislature, full transparency and regular audits, the elimination of transferable tax credits, fiscal impact statements for each credit, caps and termination dates, and a ban on any tax credit being enacted in the final five days of any legislative session.

Dank said eliminating transferable credits, which allows eligible businesses to sell them at a discounted rate to another individual or business as a way to raise capital for a project, was a key focus of the task force.

“This practice of buying and selling tax credits like poker chips received the most attention during our task force hearings, and it prompted considerable public outrage,” Dank said. “It was clear to us that the final users of these transferred tax credits performed no service at all for the state.”

Dank said the state’s Quality Jobs program, which offers incentives to businesses that meet targeted job requirements, and gross production tax breaks for the oil and gas industry will not be included in the moratorium.

Rep. Earl Sears, the chairman of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee, said the additional revenue resulting from the moratorium could be used to shore up funding for state services or go toward further reducing the state’s income tax.

“We’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars here that we can use to fund core services or return to taxpayers,” said Sears, R-Bartlesville. “It’s a significant opportunity for us.”

While Dank said the proposal has support in the Senate and from both parties and from, Steele acknowledged getting the bills passed into law won’t be an easy task because of the fierce resistance from those companies that stand to lose millions of dollars.

“Get ready. Because as soon as we speak a word of this proposal you can bet that the special interest groups are going to start lobbying tooth and nail in defense of their various tax credits,” Steele said.

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Sean Murphy can be reached at www.twitter.com/apseanmurphy