Oklahoma Lawmaker Wants Sales Tax on Newspapers

OKLAHOMA CITY - A Tahlequah lawmaker has proposed placing a state sales tax on the cost of newspapers.

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.