Group to lobby for tax-free textbooks
If a student lobbyist group gets its way, the Utah Legislature may soon be considering eliminating taxes on textbooks.
“When a school buys anything, they get it tax free because it’s for educational purposes,” Quinn Millet, president of ASUSU, said. “What’s more educational than a textbook?”
The Utah Student Association, of which every college student in Utah is a member, will be meeting in a few weeks to discuss its 2005 lobbying strategy under the motto “Invest in Student Success.” Among the items being considered is the request to exempt college textbooks from taxes.
USA student lobbyist Taylor Morgan said the idea has come up in the Legislature before, but has never been passed. It was most recently proposed last year by Rep. Dwayne Bordeaux, but never made it to a vote in the Revenue and Taxation Committee. Morgan said that the idea is not unpopular in the Legislature, but it has never become one of the top priorities.
“There seems to be a lot of bipartisan support for it, from both Democrats and Republicans,” Morgan said. “The Legislature seems to be very supportive.”
Millet said the measure is in the top five goals for the USA to lobby this year. He said student involvement is essential when the time comes to lobby Congress.
“When we do lobby, we need as many [students] down there as we can get,” Millet said. “Not to hold signs and whatever, but actually to meet with the legislators, maybe give out some Aggie ice cream.”
Morgan, who is a student at the University of Utah as well as a lobbyist, said the USA is also looking at lobbying for improvements in financial aid, getting more money for advisers and getting more funding from the state to go toward the salaries of university faculty and staff in order to lessen that burden in tuition.
Morgan agreed that student involvement is one of the best ways to get through to the Legislature. “We just need students to find out who their legislators are, call them, write letters – whether it’s about getting textbooks tax free or more money for faculty and staff compensation, or whatever the issue.”
“If every student at Utah State called up their legislator and said, ‘Hey, we want you to make textbooks tax free,’ I guarantee it would pass,” Morgan said.
Susan Miller, the curriculum materials manager for the USU Bookstore, said textbooks have already been made tax free in some other states.
“Everyone here that I know of is in favor of it,” Miller said. “It wouldn’t affect the selling of textbooks at all, we just wouldn’t charge taxes.”
Miller said she supports any measure that would make the lives of students easier. In Washington, where she came from, even groceries were tax free.
“Our students are our future, they’re our tomorrow,” Miller said. “Why not help them out? [Making textbooks tax free] is not going to bring the cost of textbooks down, but if you’re buying $600 in textbooks, it reduces it $25. That helps.”
-jenbeasley@cc.usu.edu