In a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, Ohio lawmakers appear to be hoping residents won’t notice what they slipped into House Bill 96 on Tuesday afternoon.

While some of them tout efforts to reduce and reform other taxes, they may be hoping to make up some of the difference by collecting what the Office of Budget and Management estimates to be more than $100 million in new ones.

When the state Senate Finance Committee adopted its substitute version of HB 96, it included the repealing of sales and use tax exemptions for rental payments for motor vehicles provided to the owner or lessee of a motor vehicle that is being repaired or serviced, where the payments are reimbursed by the service provider; for the transfer of all copyrighted motion picture films, including those transferred for use solely for advertising; and for the sales of newspapers and newspaper subscriptions (yes, readers, your lawmakers want you to have to pay more to read this publication).

In fact, the Ohio News Media Association says language in the bill also appears to repeal sales tax exemptions on advertising and on materials and equipment used in the production of printed material.

In addition to penalizing those who choose to rent motor vehicles, the authors of this substitute also want to inflict a little pain on newspapers, advertisers and YOU — the consumers of both.

Now, HB 96 would also cap the prompt payment sales and use tax vendor discount at $750 per vendor’s license per month. The Legislative Budget Office’s Office of Research and Drafting suggested that might squeeze another $16 million back in tax revenue for fiscal year 2026 and $32 million back in the state’s hands for FY 2027.

There is still time, of course, for reasonable lawmakers to conclude they cannot pull one over on Ohioans by waving tax reduction and reform in one hand while hoping no one will notice the cleverly named tax increases in the other.

Let them know you are watching to be sure they don’t take the sneaky way out, rather than rooting out the fraud, waste and abuse many of them were sent to Columbus to address.