Crossing the state line to shop in Washington will get more expensive for Oregonians, if a bill approved over the weekend by state lawmakers is signed into law by Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee.

As part of a flurry of activity at the end of their legislative session, members of both the Washington House and Senate narrowly approved Senate Bill 5997.

The measure would end the longstanding practice of allowing Oregonians, along with residents of five other states that do not charge a sales tax, to purchase items in Washington without having to pay the sales tax there.

The idea behind the exemption was to encourage people accustomed to tax-free shopping to spend money in Washington, which imposes a 6.5% sales tax. Oregon residents simply show photo ID and the tax is immediately removed from their bill.

The sales tax exemption applies only to items that are used outside of Washington state, such as cars, electronics and clothing. It does not apply to restaurant meals, lodging, gasoline or marijuana.

The bill would not end the exemption entirely, but it would make it much more difficult to use.

Instead of getting the sales tax waived on the spot, Oregonians would have to save their receipts and turn them in the following year to the Washington Department of Revenue. The agency would then issue a rebate.

Requests for a sales tax rebate could only be made once per year and only if the total amount to be refunded exceeds $25.

The process could only be used for state sales tax and not for taxes charged by cities and counties. That means that Oregonians who shop in Vancouver would pay an extra 1.9% in taxes, with no way to recover it. Vancouver is one of more than 100 cities across Washington that charges a local sales tax.

The Washington Department of Revenue estimates that just over 10% of shoppers from Oregon and the other qualifying jurisdictions will bother sending in their sales tax receipts. That’s based on figures from a similar rebate program operated by the Canadian province of British Columbia.

The other shoppers will either not spend enough to be able to turn in $25 worth of sales tax receipts or will simply not bother. A legislative budget note estimates the change would bring in $53.9 million to state coffers during the upcoming two-year budget cycle.

While the new law would help Washington’s bottom line, lobbyists for the travel industry and retail groups testified against the measure in Olympia.

Two southwest Washington lawmakers criticized the proposal in a column in the Vancouver Business Journal. Rep. Brandon Vick, R-Vancouver and Rep. Larry Hoff, R-Vancouver, wrote that the bill “would seriously jeopardize businesses” in their district.

“As a result of these changes, we believe many Oregonians would simply stop coming to Washington to purchase products from our local businesses,” they wrote.

A spokeswoman for Inslee told the Vancouver Columbian that the governor has not taken a position on the bill. If approved, the change would take effect July 1.