Tax-free textbook bill has hearing today

A bill that would eliminate the sales tax on some IU textbooks will have its first hearing today.\nDuring the public hearing in Indianapolis, an educational committee will decide if Senate Bill 16 is sufficient to be passed on to the House of Representatives, said IU Student Association President Betsy Henke.\nIf passed, the bill will eliminate Indiana's sales tax on any textbook that is required for an undergraduate course at an accredited college or university in the state.\nIUSA has been campaigning for the bill over the past seven months.\n"It's exciting," said IUSA Vice President Andrew Lauck, who will attend the hearing. "A hearing is only the first step, but it does mean leadership in the House agrees that it has to be a discussion point."\nLauck will attend the hearing with IUSA Chief of External Affairs Emma Cullen and former Chief of External Affairs Garret Scharton. They will supply testimonies and student opinion. Several Purdue University students will also attend.\nIUSA will testify that textbooks are the fastest-growing cost of university students, with costs increasing even more than tuition, Lauck said.\n"There needs to be some kind of relief," he said.\nThe IU students will tell the committee that several U.S. states already have similar laws. Lauck said the bill is not a solution to cutting education costs, but it is definitely a first step.\nIf today's hearing decides that the bill is worthwhile, it will move on to a second hearing for discussion about any necessary revisions, then it will have a hearing in the Statehouse and then with the Senate.\nLauck said IUSA started the project in the spring semester of 2006, and Scharton is the one who really initiated the project before leaving for a lobbying internship in Indianapolis this semester.\nThe association spent the summer gathering information, researching other states that have already implemented such a law, and talking to state representatives, Henke said.\n"It's really taken off into a statewide effort," Lauck said.\nLauck is a former president of IU College Republicans, while Cullen is a former IU College Democrats president. \nLauck said the bill is a unique piece of legislation because the parties' combined efforts go further than the campus with support from both Republican and Democratic representatives.