State Lawmaker Introduces Bill To Help Tulsa Air & Space Museum

The Tulsa Air and Space Museum is asking for help from the state government in the form of a sales tax exemption, but they say there is no need for the public to worry. The museum also says it's not in danger of closing.

"Sally Ride has an incredible quote and she said you can't be what you can't see," says Tulsa Air and Space Museum Director Tonya Blansett.

For decades, thousands of visitors have learned about aviation and history from the Tulsa Air and Space Museum.

"We provide that looking glass into the aviation community," Blansett says.

She says running a non-profit museum post-COVID is tough and every dollar counts, that's why she hopes to get something many other museums in the state already have; a sales tax exemption. Representative John Waldron, along with State Senator Dana Prieto, has been working for three years to make that a reality.

"It would make a small difference to Oklahoma taxpayers, but a big difference to the Air and Space Museum, which is a real gem here in Tulsa … It's an important part of our legacy, a sales tax exemption would allow them to better continue their service to the public I think it's deserved and appropriate," says Waldron.

If this legislation passes, Blansett says the museum could spend more more money on things like the Tuskegee Airmen Exhibit.

She says the tax exemption would also help with basic operating costs like cleaning and maintenance, saving around $20,000 a year. She says that would go a long way to inspire the roughly 30,000 students that visit every year.

“We're trying to be more of a come and do, rather than a come and see museum, we want kids to have hands-on, enrichment activities," says Blansett.

She says saving money on taxes isn't a make or break for the museum, but it would be much-needed help.

"The museum's not going anywhere, we have a lot of projects going," she says.

If the bill is passed this spring, it would take effect in November.