COLUMBUS (WCMH) — A popular cost-saving measure for consumers passed by lawmakers annually since 2015 may become permanent.

State Senator Kevin Bacon wants to make the August weekend sales tax holiday permanent with the introduction of a bill at the statehouse.

Bacon has championed the measure for years, and says it ran into obstacles in previous General Assemblies with the executive branch not willing to support it at first.

The biggest issue was getting the numbers just right.

“If you have too many items subject to the sales tax holiday or if the dollar amounts are too high the limits are too high then you could cause a greater loss to the state of Ohio,” said Bacon.

After negotiations Bacon was able to get the measure passed and Ohio brought in $4.7 million, or a 9% increase in tax revenue, over the correlating weekend, all while consumers saved $3.3 million on select items.

“I was very pleased that they were willing to do it even as a temporary measure,” said Bacon.

However, the latest attempt to get the annual bill passed through the legislature almost missed an essential deadline.

Now, Bacon wants to make the tax holiday permanent to avoid missing any future deadlines.

“The real goal of the legislation is to help taxpayers save some money and also create a lot of excitement so that the retailers like it because it brings more activity to the stores and people quite frankly will also buy the non-sales tax-exempt items while they are there,” said Bacon.

Bacon says if the holiday becomes permanent lawmakers will still be able to make adjustments to what is covered by the tax exemption through the normal legislative process.

The bill has not yet been scheduled for its first hearing.