Give the students a break!!!

With college tuition rising every year, the possibility of attending college becomes very slim for many Americans. It is very vital that the state step in and create legislation that will help out college students obtain the degree they desire. 

I found a very interesting article in the blog H-Kan K’s Political View, entitiled College Textbook Tax Exemption. The author writes in regards to a bill that the Texas legislature is looking at that would allow for textbooks to be tax exempt for full-time and part-time students. The views of the author are very clear and I completely agree with their argument that textbooks should be taxed exempt. 

For textbooks to be tax exempt will allow for students to use the money for other necessities. I understand where the author is coming from when they discussed the prices you paid for your textbooks. This semester I paid over $400 for all my textbooks. 

Yes, the savings of 8.25% per semester is very little, but it is very important money that can help students towards other expenses. The money that the students save will be returned back into the economy once the student uses it to purchase something else. 

The state of Texas needs to pass this bill to allow students to save some money while attending college. The money will eventually get cycled back into the local economy and will benefit both the student and the government. The author really encouraged the readers to realize the benefits of what this tax exemption will do for the economy. I highly agree with the author and do hope that this bill passes, because I have a couple more semesters of college ahead of me.

Drive a state-owned vehicle, for free!!! How do I apply?

Wouldn’t it be very nice if I could have a car that was meant for work related purposes, but “occasionally” used it for personal purposes and not pay for the car note or gas each month. That would be amazing and that is what is actually happening by many state employees. In the Dallas Morning News, an article entitled Texas House bill would make workers pay for personal use of state cars, reports that there are roughly 1,300 state employees at 95 state agencies that commute to work in state-owned cars, and NEVER use them for any other work related purposes. 

State Representative Terri Hodge, D-Dallas, has filed a bill that would require all state employees to pay for their personal trips and errands. Hodge doesn’t believe that taxpayers should have to flip the bill for state employee’s to use state-owned vehicles for personal use. Hodge found in a study that most of the state employees are driving their vehicles to and from work and are never called out for an emergency. TxDOT says that many state employees are given cars to provide a minimum response time in emergency situations. 

Terri Hodge, I am very pleased to hear that you are backing a bill that will stop state employees from taking advantage of a privilege. The tax payers should not be paying for someone to pick up their dry cleaning and then picking up their child from soccer practice. If you are an state employee that must respond to emergencies 24 hours a day, which the bill does exclude, I perfectly understand. But, if you are working 8-5, monday through friday, and you have a state-owned car, GIVE IT UP! 

Who is actually monitoring the allocation of these vehicles? Who is determining who is eligible for a state-owned vehicle? With Texas having a poorly funded education system, shouldn’t the state end all unnecessary distribution of state-owned vehicles to employees who don’t need them? There many other important issues that our tax dollars could support. Healthcare, education, transportation, and our economy seem to high on the totem poll, but we rather give our cars for people to run around in and not really use them for work. So, to our great elected officials, I do hope that you all pass this bill and end this nonsense.