PANAMA CITY — Students and leaders at local colleges are endorsing Gov. Rick Scott’s plan to make college textbooks sales-tax free.
One of Scott’s top priorities during the upcoming legislative session that starts in March will be to make college more affordable.
In addition to the textbook initiative, other proposals from Scott include preventing tuition hikes on graduate programs, requiring the use of the same textbooks in undergraduate programs for three years by colleges, and for colleges to tell students before registration how much their textbooks cost.
Florida State University Panama City Interim Dean Steve Leach says it’s hard to imagine anybody being against the idea.
“It should have always been the case,” Leach said.
Textbooks are expensive enough, he said. Leach added that there is no sales tax on tuition and rhetorically asked why the state would do anything to make it more expensive to go to school.
Gulf Coast State College President James Holdnak also supports the idea. Holdnak said it would save students money, and that while some decisions regarding colleges can be negative and have an impact on colleges, the textbook proposal was “rock-solid.”
“I think it’s terrific,” Holdnak said.
The repeal of taxes is a great way to send money back to people who need it, said Holdnak, who added he didn’t think anybody would complain about the proposal.
Gulf Coast State College bookstore employee John Fuller seemed receptive to the idea but wasn’t sure how much it would affect the bookstore.
“If it helps the students, that’s great,” Fuller said.
Gulf Coast students also were receptive to Scott’s recommendation.
“I’d support it,” Leslie Thompson said.
Thompson noted that tuition was going up, and that if the price of college in general could be lowered that would be great.
Isiah Williams said he thought the recommendation was a good thing and also noted the rising cost of tuition.
With fees going up, Williams said it was good to have something that could possibly offset the costs.
“A 200-page book shouldn’t be $200,” Williams said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.