Topeka ? A House committee studying whether to repeal dozens of exemptions from the state sales tax heard opposition Tuesday from broadcasters and advertising agencies.

The hearing was the first of several planned by the House Taxation Committee on dozens of bills to repeal about 70 exemptions from the 5.3 percent tax.

Committee Chairman John Edmonds, R-Great Bend, has said enactment of all the bills would yield about $3.5 billion a year. The state faces a projected $750 million budget deficit in the next fiscal year.

First on the committee’s agenda were proposals to repeal exemptions on sales of services by advertisers and by TV and radio stations, and on noncommercial broadcasters’ purchases of services and equipment. Those exemptions cost the state an estimated $4 million a year.

Gary McNair, general manager of KSNT in Topeka, said one-third of the TV station’s business was from national advertisers. His station would pass along the added cost to advertisers, who would then take their business elsewhere, McNair said.