Barnett’s proposal would raise the sales tax by 1 percent, which the Senate Fiscal Agency estimates would generate more than $1.3 billion every year, Michigan Information Research Service Inc. reports.

It could open the door for many low-income high school graduates who feel they have no way to pay for college, said Val Meyers, associate director for the MSU Office of Financial Aid. And it would lift some of the debt burden for the 24,155 students or their parents who borrowed money between 2012 and 2013 to cover the many costs of attending college.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Jimmy Johnson Jr., a psychology senior at MSU, working in the MSU Union.

Johnson said he’s preparing to graduate in December and start paying back the $20,000 in student loans he owes — debt he wouldn’t have if the state covered tuition costs.

But Bernie Porn, president of the Lansing-based polling firm, EPIC-MRA, said he thinks it’s a proposal with a “slim to none” chance of passing because of Tea Party influence on the GOP.

“Unless they are willing to look the other way or support such a notion, the odds are they would put tremendous pressure on Republican legislators not to support it,” Porn said.

“I would be amazed if the Republican-controlled Legislature would put that on the ballot.”

But Porn said the public might be more receptive of such a measure, as voters generally are willing to support a sales tax increase if it’s for a cause they “feel strongly about.”

He cites an example of a proposal during former Michigan Gov. John Engler’s administration to raise the sales tax from 4 cents to 6 cents per dollar, to replace education funding lost after a property tax cut.

The proposal passed in 1994, but received no backlash from the Tea Party, which did not formally start endorsing political candidates until 2009.