ROSEVILLE, Mich. (WXYZ) — The cost of school supplies continues to rise, costing parents hundreds of dollars. But there’s hope there may soon be an opportunity.

Notebooks, pens, clothing, electronics and backpacks: the prices of these items are constantly rising.

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This is Ashley Bertand. She has three children and they just went on one of several trips to get school supplies.

“That was $196 with the bare minimum after we were eliminated last year,” Bertand said. “If we cross off what we can reuse, and that’s only two of them on the list … it’s not a huge amount at the end of the day, but that could be an extra trip to something fun.”

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Stephanie Elso told me she has spent $200 to $300 on school supplies so far this summer.

“My daughter is starting kindergarten right now, so there’s a lot going on,” said Elso. “I’m in the process of getting school supplies. They need not only pencils and crayons, but also a water bottle and a lunch box, and the teachers are asking for the things.”

But there is hope: Rochester Hills State Representative Mark Tisdel introduced House Bill 5805 in June. He says this bill would give the state a tax-free school supplies holiday on both the Saturday and Sunday of the third weekend in August each year.

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“Everyone has had trouble at the checkout line,” Tisdel said. “Parents could use a break and help getting their kids back to school. And if we can’t give them a little break at the checkout line this time of year, when can we?”

Currently, only 20 states have a tax-free holiday for back-to-school supplies. According to the National Retail Federation, families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend an average of $874.68 this year on clothing, shoes, school supplies and electronics.

Although this bill could help families with children, there is no estimate of how much revenue the state could gain or lose as a result. But MP Tisdel believes that a solution will be found.

“We have to recognize what’s in front of us today, and it’s not a huge number either,” Tisdel said. “It’s not a huge tax burden on the state of Michigan, and there are plenty of opportunities to save money.”

The parents I spoke to hope that help will be on the way soon.

“Everything helps,” said Bertand.

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“I think it would be helpful because everything has been so expensive the last few years, so any kind of break we can get would be great,” Maria Hernandez said.

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