House Bill 14, sponsored by Rep. Mary Flowers, attempts to decrease student expenses by making textbooks tax-free and funding textbook rental programs through the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Eastern is one of three universities in Illinois that have a textbook rental program, which has existed since 1899 when the rental fee was $1.

Students now fund the textbook rental building expenses with $1 out of the $9.95 per credit hour rental fee.

Susan Allen, an administrative assistant for the textbook rental service, said a tax exemption would save students the state sales tax, which is 6.75 percent, on their textbooks if they choose to purchase them at the end of the semester.

Allen said textbook rental does not pay taxes on books when they are purchased from publishers.

The bill would also require publishers to keep textbooks in print and available for purchase for at least six years after the last copyright date.

The cost of each new edition of a textbook is an average of 12 percent higher than the previous edition, causing prices of both new and used versions of the previous edition to decrease, according to the Public Interest Research Groups.

Allen said requiring publishers to keep editions available would make it more convenient to find books that are used in courses for long periods of time.

She said about three to four times per semester, textbook rental has to search for used books from a wholesaler when a previous edition is no longer available.

“You get the select few books that are out of print or old, or you just can’t find them,” she said. “The majority of the time you can find it from wholesalers, who get them from publishers when they don’t make them anymore.”

She said used textbooks from wholesalers cost slightly less, but it can be difficult to locate specific editions.

“Luckily we’ve been able to get them, but we couldn’t get them from the publisher because once they come out with a new edition, the old edition is gone,” she said.

Jonathan Lackland, the deputy director of advancement, external and government relations for the IBHE, said this aspect of the bill has been a point for disagreement.

“What has been the sticking point for some is the requirement that the publisher has to keep that book around for six years,” he said. “It makes it very difficult in some people’s estimation how you can require a publisher to keep a textbook around for any length of time.”

Lackland said the bill is a result of the push across the country to cut student costs.

“When you’re looking at cuts to higher education and a decrease in revenue, that cost will shift over to students as a raise in tuition and fees, and that may not be an arbitrary shift,” Lackland said.

He said any decrease in tax revenue has the potential to cause another deficit, so recognizing problems and creating conversations are essential.

Stephanie Markham can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].