Oklahoma lawmaker wants sales tax on newspapers

A Tahlequah (OK) lawmaker has proposed placing a state sales tax on the cost of newspapers.

State Sen. Jim Wilson (D-Tahlequah) said his bill to eliminate the sales tax exemption on newspapers and periodicals would raise about $17 million a year for the state - about the same amount of money he said nationally board certified teachers are owed for unpaid bonuses over the past three years. "The state made an agreement to pay teachers $5,000 per year if they became nationally board certified," Wilson said. "We have a moral obligation to these outstanding, hardworking individuals to give them the bonuses they were promised. "We need to get our priorities straight. I believe it's much more important to keep our promises to these educators than to provide sales tax exemptions for newspapers." Although his bill doesn't specify that the new state revenue would be used to pay unfunded teacher stipends, Wilson said it would raise adequate money to do so.