Teachers Excited About Passage Of New Tax Bill On Day 3 Of Walkout

What started as a contentious day is ending with the first sign of progress this week.

Educators, including the OEA and State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, are praising what’s being called a step forward after the House passed a bill to collect online sales tax from third-party sellers.

After three days at the Capitol, some teachers feel there’s finally something to cheer about.

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Rebeka Vaughn says “this is our first step forward.  We are very encouraged by this.”

House Bill 1019xx passed the House 92-7 on Wednesday evening.

The bill would take Amazon sales tax from online purchases and allot up to $20 million to education funding.

Teachers say they are excited, but they want to see this legislation through to a long-term solution.

“We want to educate our students.  That’s what we want to do.  That’s why we’re here,” stated Vaughn.  “We want to get back to our families and our school and this is a first great step forward…fund the education, guarantee the funding and we will go back to work.”

The OEA released a statement saying today’s legislation is a step in the right direction and that this wouldn’t have happened without the educators who have been here at the Capitol every day.