Video Game Tax Proposed in Wisconsin

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Wisconsin state senator Jon Erpenbach (D) wants to keep 17-year-old non-violent offenders from being tried as adults in his state, a proposal that seems to be facing little contention--what is more controversial is that Erpenbach wants to pay for the juvenile rehabilitation programs by establishing a new 1% video game sales tax.

Erpenbach's statements on the matter, as reported by local Madison network WISC, suggest he associates gaming with minors, providing a link between the tax and its purpose. "The idea being that this is kind of a kids/kids thing," he explained. "In other words, if we're going to do this for kids maybe this would be a good way to go about it."

Critics of the target of the tax include state representative Steve Nass (R), who points out video games are unrelated to juvenile crime. The state senator indicated he would take other suggested funding proposals into consideration for the bill.

Defending the program's aim, Erpenbach said, "It's the right thing to do because not all 17-year-olds belong in the adult system when it comes to non-violent offenses. ...If you treat certain situations in a juvenile delinquent-type of a setting, as opposed to an adult setting, chances are there's going to be less of a problem when the kid gets older."

From The Chatty
  • reply
    December 28, 2007 2:01 PM

    Stating the obvious: most game players at this point are over the age of 18, aren't they? Aren't we?

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      December 28, 2007 2:15 PM

      It's not clear, but the median age at least is well over that.

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      December 28, 2007 3:35 PM

      I believe the real number is in the 30's.

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      December 28, 2007 6:13 PM

      Yeah, I am really sick of people acting like games are just for kids. It is one of the things that really gets on my nerves time and time again.

      The real issue they should be addressing isn't how to pay for all these juveniles. They need to instead look at how to prevent these kids from ending up in the situations that cause crimes. Too much focus on the end result and not enough focus on misguided youth. Video games are far too easy to blame, just as movies, or music, have been blamed in the past. We have allowed these kind of cheap political responses to occur for far too long, it is time for politicians to actually stop being lazy and do their fucking jobs.

    • reply
      December 28, 2007 10:25 PM

      My just-turned-4 year old enjoys himself a game of Super Mario Galaxy.

    • reply
      December 31, 2007 8:03 AM

      I sent him an email..


      Hi.

      I was looking to do some research on your proposal of a 1% sales tax
      on video games to fund rehabilitation programs for kids, however your
      senate home page is broken. Can you please point me towards your
      information on the proposal as well as your research results related
      to the video game demographic that will be paying for this tax. I'm
      interested in this as a parent, tax payer, and game developer living
      in Madison, Wisconsin.

      Thanks.

    • reply
      December 31, 2007 10:29 AM

      Ummmm.... I think that 90% of my high school students play video games, so no... not really.

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