Lawmakers work for tax break on textbooks

MOSES LAKE - Rep. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, re-introduced a bill that would give college students a break on the high cost of textbooks.

The bill, sponsored by both Warnick, R-Moses Lake, and Matt Manweller, R-Ellensburg, would provide a sales and use tax exemption for textbooks students are required to buy for a course. The exemption would be applied to instructional materials sold by bookstores affiliated with any higher education institutions in the state.

"With recent dramatic increases in the cost of tuition, students need a break, and this will help with their burden in a small way," Warnick stated.

College institutions will be required to provide documentation showing the materials are required for specific courses. The bill would allow tax exemption for textbooks, workbooks, standardized data or pre-written computer software. Warnick introduced a similar bill in 2007, but concerns over loss of tax revenue stalled the bill in the state House Higher Education Committee. If the bill is passed, the state Department of Revenue estimates the general fund would lose about $17 million in 2013, according to data released in 2007. The bill is only at the early stages of the process and has been referred to the Finance Committee.

Warnick serves on the Education Committee, which considers policies for K-12 education.

Manweller has also sponsored a bill to restrict bonuses and other incentives for presidents and chancellors at institutions of higher education.