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Video game tax bankrupts bill |
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Written by CaptainMarbles
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Friday, 11 January 2008 |
Just thought this was interesting.
A proposal to tax video games to pay for rehabilitating teenage criminals is a classic example of a mismatched government tax.State Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, wants to place a 1 percent surcharge on video games and consoles sold in Wisconsin. He would use money collected from the surcharge to pay for costs associated with moving non-violent 17-year-olds out of the Wisconsin adult court system.
Instead, 17-year-olds charged with non-violent crimes would enter the juvenile justice system, which tailors treatment, education and supervision to young minds.
The trouble with Erpenbach 's proposal is that video games don 't cause juvenile crime. So he 's unfairly sticking a group of people with the cost of paying for services they won 't get special benefit from and aren 't responsible for.
The Legislature should reject Erpenbach 's bill unless a solid and sensible funding source can be found.
State government already has a bad enough habit of unfairly applying fees or raiding their proceeds for inappropriate uses.
Led by Gov. Jim Doyle, state leaders raided $200 million from a patient compensation fund last year. The fund, which gets its money from medical professionals, is supposed to cover malpractice claims that exceed the limits of insurance policies. Instead, the $200 million is being diverted to pay for general expenses in the state budget. It also has prompted a lawsuit.
Two years ago, again led by Doyle, state leaders raided transportation dollars intended for roads and bridges. The money was diverted to help fund K-12 education.
Other examples include state raids on recycling, conservation and petroleum inspection funds to pay for unrelated expenses.
Video games are often blamed for contributing to poor health, wasting money and depicting violence. The negative perception makes them easy targets for lawmakers.
But video games have nothing to do with law and order. And increasingly, the sophistication of video games is attracting older fans. Some doctors even prescribe such games as simulated golf and bowling to encourage exercise.
Fees and taxes should match their purpose and not penalize users, industries or agencies that have little or nothing to do with that purpose.
Rethinking ways to rehabilitate non-violent 17-year-olds might reduce crime and even save money.
But Erpenbach 's misguided tax on video games and consoles bankrupts his proposal.
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