Published: March 08, 2008 01:36 am            

Another good idea gets slain

State Rep. Wes Hilliard had the right idea.

With tuition costs rising annually for college bound students, Hilliard thought it would be good to give college students a sales tax break when they go an buy text books.

"With the rising cost of college education, every dollar saved is treasured – and needed," said Hilliard, D-Sulphur as he filed House Bill 2493 this past January.

Hilliard noted that 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 that textbook prices are increasing at more than four times the inflation rate for all finished goods and that wholesale prices charged by textbook publishers jumped 62 percent since 1994.

"Some students do not even buy textbooks – they’re basically forced to go without due to the high costs, which impacts their education and learning experience," said Hilliard.

"We need to do whatever can to encourage and help these students who are furthering their education. This bill is a start."

Unfortunately good ideas are sometimes victims of bureaucracy and such was the case with HB 2493.

There was hope when the House’s Revenue and Taxation Subcommittee passed the measure but this past week the House Appropriations and Budget Committee killed the bill.

I couldn’t tell you why the committee declined to take the bill any further, but it was a big mistake. It sends the wrong message to high school students and their parents.

Our state has consistently promoted a higher education for high school students. We have OHLAP and the 529 college savings plan.

Oklahoma works to encourage high school students to stay in Oklahoma and attend one of our institutions of higher learning.

Yet, our lawmakers can’t even give a simple tax break to students and their parents (who are the ones who mostly pay for the text books anyway) to further motivate a student to pursue a college degree.

If the average text book price tag is $853 for a school year, that would divide out to around $427 per semester.

Oklahoma’s sales tax rate is 4.5 percent, which means each student would pay around $19.20 in sales taxes on text book purchases each semester.

According to the Oklahoma Department of Higher Education, the total enrollment for the 2007 fall semester in Oklahoma was 178,305 students.

If each student actually bought text books at each of the universities and colleges in Oklahoma (which Hilliard pointed out that many students don’t buy text books due to their high price) that would mean in one semester the state would reap almost $3.5 million in sales taxes on text books.

I suppose the thought of losing $3.5 million in revenue would cause one to stop and think. Maybe the lawmakers on the Appropriations and Budget Committee took a look at those numbers and decided the state couldn’t afford such a hit.

After all, that much money would provide almost three years of furniture and fixtures for the House alone, which is expected to spend a little over $1 million for furniture in 2008.

As I said, it sends the wrong message.

        

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