Lawmakers propose tax break

By Scott Glidewell, Staff Writer

A tax break may be in the future of Oklahoma’s college students.

The Oklahoma House of Representatives will consider a bill this spring proposing the elimination of all state and city sales tax on college textbook purchases.

According to a press release from the Oklahoma House of Representatives website, State Rep. Wes Hilliard, D-Sulphur, said, “With tuition increasing every year, burdening college students with more debt, lawmakers need to offset some of the other costs of higher education.”

Hilliard recently filed House Bill 2493 in hopes of reducing some these costs for college students in Oklahoma.

“With the rising cost of college education, every dollar saved is treasured — and needed,” Hilliard said.

According to the College Board, students spent an average of $853 on textbooks and supplies in the 2005 academic year at public four-year institutions, an increase of almost $200 over the previous five years.

A study by the California Student Public Interest Research Group found textbook prices are increasing at more than four times the inflation rate for all finished goods and that wholesale prices charged by textbook publishers have jumped by 62 percent since 1994.

OCCC Bookstore Director Brenda Reinke said she thinks eliminating the sales tax on textbook purchases is a great idea.

“If [state legislators] are really serious about saving students money then they should do something, and knocking off almost 9 percent from the cost of textbooks would be a great start,” Reinke said.

Shelby Hall, 22, OCCC special education major, thinks the bill is a great idea.

“For a lot of people, every little bit helps,” Hall said. “Anything that would save on books would be great.”

Marc Creaser, 20, OCCC business freshman, agrees.

“Every little bit helps, but it seems miniscule to what [the government] could do,” Creaser said.

Reinke said the average full-time student at OCCC spends about $500 a semester on books.

With a cumulative sales tax of about 8.375 percent, the average savings for an OCCC student would be about $41.88 a semester.

While the actual savings per student may not seem like much, in the eyes of some legislators the tax break could begin to add up quickly.

State Rep. Mike Jackson, R-Enid, said he is interested in looking into the bill and its possible effects.

“I would want to know the financial impact on the state’s budget, especially in a fiscally-tight year like this one.”

Reinke said the OCCC Bookstore’s estimated state sales tax for the first half of January was $63,000 with about 80 percent coming from textbook sales.

The loss of tax revenue would not only affect the state’s budget but also could have adverse effects on cities like Norman and Edmond.

Captain Leonard Judy, primary press information officer for Norman, said, given the current high cost of textbooks, the tax loss associated with eliminating sales tax on textbook sales would be significant.

“In my opinion, there would be a noticeable decrease, but because of the continued growth of Nor-man as a community, it is unlikely that the effect would be large enough to cause a tax increase in other areas.”

Edmond City Council member David Miller said he isn’t sure what the exact financial impact on a city like Edmond would be.

However, he said, given the current costs of a college education, “Any help we can give students to make it less expensive seems like a good idea …”

Even though the bill has raised some financial questions, it seems to be getting support from both parties.

On Jan. 25 Rep. Lance Cargill, R-Harrah, announced he would co-sponsor the bill.

“We have always said we want to support good ideas, regardless of which party they come from,” Cargill said. “We need to do all we can to make college as accessible as possible for all Oklahoma students.”

Hilliard said the bipartisan support the bill is garnering is evidence that education is an issue that goes beyond party lines.

Staff Writer Scott Glidewell can be reached at StaffWriter1@occc.edu.

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