[Original post: Evelyn Merz, Houston Chronicle, May 18, 2015]
The Texas Legislature, while opening a door to adequately fund the Texas state park system via appropriation of the sporting-goods sales tax, is quietly closing a window so that less tax revenue actually flows into the pool.
On May 12, the House voted to approve HB 849, which would create two state sales tax-free weekends annually for the purchasers of firearms and hunting supplies.
The fiscal analysis did not consider the effect on funding state parks or the Texas Historical Commission. Under funding guidelines adopted in 2007, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department receives 94 percent of the appropriated Sporting Goods Sales Tax, and the Texas Historical Commission receives the remaining 6 percent.
The fiscal impact of HB 849 is estimated as being a reduction to general revenue of $11.1 million over the next two fiscal years. This $11.1 million would come directly from the sporting-goods sales tax available for appropriation to state parks and the Texas Historical Commission.
Why? Because the firearms and hunting supplies are part of the categories whose state sales tax is allocated to the sporting-goods sales tax pool. That allocation was specifically created to be a stable source of funding to the Texas state park system.
HB 849 declares, as its purpose, to "recognize and celebrate the hunting tradition in Texas" since "hunting has truly become a way of life" for many Texans. This is undoubtedly true.
But it is also true that hunting is a form of recreation — just as bicycling, fishing, camping, RV-ing, photography, birdwatching, and a host of other activities are all forms of recreation. They too could be considered a way of life for their practitioners. There is no valid reason to give such special, unequal preference to hunters over their fellow citizens who engage in other forms of recreation.
Previous tax-free holidays have been approved for school supplies and energy-efficient appliances. The reduction in revenues to the state could be balanced against the public good. Making school supplies more affordable to families is important to education. Improving energy efficiency lowers energy bills and reduces energy consumption. Both of these benefit society as a whole. A tax-free holiday for firearms and hunting supplies benefits only the users of those goods and elevates them above other consumers.
The author of the Senate version of the bill noted that it celebrates the Second Amendment. Why not celebrate all the amendments of the constitution? We could have a celebration of the First Amendment and have tax-free weekends on all books, magazines, CDs, and any other media that could embody the First Amendment. The Legislature could celebrate the 21st Amendment, which repealed Prohibition, by having tax-free weekends on alcohol.
If the Texas Legislature wanted to treat all consumers and all constitutional amendments equally in bestowing tax-free weekends, it would eventually make a sizeable hole in state revenue. Obviously, it would not make fiscal sense to do so. But if we cannot afford to treat all consumers equally, it would be unfair to select a favored few to benefit from tax-free weekends – especially when the tax supports the state parks and historic sites that benefit all of us.
If hunting enthusiasts wish to pursue their favored recreation, they have every right to do so. But the Texas Legislature should not award hunters or any other special recreational group the privilege to avoid the state sales tax that other recreationists pay in support of the state parks and historic sites.
Evelyn L. Merz is conservation chair of the Lone Star Chapter Sierra Club.
[Editorial Note: Please call your State Senator today to tell them to oppose HB 849. Here's how to look up their number: http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/Home.aspx.]