A recently proposed bill in the Michigan Legislature could create reduced prices for textbooks - an issue that faces every student at the beginning of the semester. Currently, the state's six percent sales tax applies to all textbooks. But under Senate Bill 289, recently proposed by Sen. Leon Stille (R-Spring Lake), textbooks required for college classes would be exempt from the sales tax. Although this bill is still only in its preliminary stages, the legislature, nevertheless, should speed up the process and ensure that this bill passes to reduce the ever-increasing costs that face college students.
Every year, students attending the University are faced with increased costs. In addition to purchasing textbooks for classes, students must provide for living expenses and tuition - costs which seem to increase annually. As a result, this puts extra pressure on students, who already have to cope with the pressures of classes. By exempting the sales tax from textbooks, students would enjoy a small but significant savings.
One of the main concerns that several state representatives have expressed is that this exemption would reduce an important source of revenue for the school aid fund, which is mainly generated from the sales tax. But the state is already losing tax revenue on textbooks through sales over the internet. An exemption should not drastically affect school funding in a state able to budget $85 million more on prisons than on schools. Given Michigan's currently booming economy, the legislature should forego this tax on textbooks and let the revenue generated from sales tax be compensated by economic growth in the long run.
While the legislators consider this bill, they must also carefully consider what constitutes a textbook. This needs to be clearly defined to avoid any possible gray areas. For example, many University classes use books available in any Borders or Barnes & Noble. The state will need to determine a policy to account for such books without opening the door for widespread abuse.
Similar bills have often been proposed in recent years and subsequently been passed by the House. But each time such bills have failed in the Senate Finance Committee - the step before reaching the full Senate - due to partisanship in the Legislature. But this year, the bill is partly sponsored by Republicans and should have a higher chance of passing. The legislature should take advantage of this bipartisanship by speeding up the process and passing the bill.
The bill is still in the preliminary stages of the legislative process. While this bill waits to be addressed in the Senate, and it is not expected to be in effect for the fall semester, students should nevertheless voice their support for this bill. Strong support should focus attention on the bill and encourage legislators to pass it. Textbooks continue to become more expensive each semester and it is time for the state to temper this trend for the benefit of students. Passing Senate Bill 289 will not dramatically slash costs, but every little bit helps.
02-24-99
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