There has been much hurly-burly of late regarding a Sierra Club proposal to tax video games and TV sets in New Mexico. The Entertainment Consumers Association (representing game consumers), Entertainment Merchants Association (representing game retailers) and the Entertainment Software Association (representing game publishers) have all come out against the plan. Despite mounting opposition, the tax bill has now been introduced in New Mexico’s legislature. HB583, also known as the Leave No Child Inside Act, would f... lire la suite
Lien du post: http://gamepolitics.com/2008/01/31/new-mexico-video-game-tax-bill-is-introduced/
There has been much hurly-burly of late regarding a Sierra Club proposal to tax video games and TV sets in New Mexico. The Entertainment Consumers Association (representing game consumers), Entertainment Merchants Association (representing game retailers) and the Entertainment Software Association (representing game publishers) have all come out against the plan. Despite mounting opposition, the tax bill has now been introduced in New Mexico’s legislature. HB583, also known as the Leave No Child Inside Act, would force consumers to pay a 1% excise tax on purchases of games, consoles, and TV’s. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Gail Chasey (D, left) of Albuquerque, and is now before the House Business & Industry Committee. If passed, the measure, which is intended to fund outdoor education programs for school children, will become law on January 1st, 2009. UPDATE: The Las Cruces Sun-News has more on the bill. This entry was posted on Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 8:45 am and is filed under Politics & Legislation, Video Game Industry/Economics, Game Consumer News, Games & Health, Games & Education, ECA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
New Mexico Rep. Gail Chasey’s recent proposal to tax video games and TV sets is controversial, to say the least. HB583, the No Child Left Inside Act, would levy a 1% tax on games and TV’s. It enjoys the backing of environmental group the Sierra Club. To date, media reaction has been largely negative. The Amarillo Globe-News slammed the tax proposal in a recent editorial: A sedentary lifestyle is undoubtedly a factor in youth obesity, but imposing a tax on products that fit this lifestyle hardly addresses the lack of personal and parental responsibility that is the actual cause... Unless groups like the Sierra Club are successful in forcing consumers to pay exorbitant taxes on video games similar to cigarettes taxes, gamers aren’t any more likely to play their games outside. Perhaps surprisingly, weight loss website CalorieLab also takes issue with the New Mexico bill: In New Mexico, state legislator Gail Chasey proposes the No Child Left Inside bill... to get the youth of New Mexico off their butts, away from their games, and outdoors where they can engage in physical activity. These are, of course, obviously wholesome and reasonable goals, which is why the youth of New Mexico can be expected to resist them at all cost. Already gaming blogs are irate and the gaming industry is crying Nanny State... This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 6th, 2008 at 7:55 am and is filed under Politics & Legislation, Game Consumer News, Games & Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
New Mexico’s much-discussed No Child Left Inside Act has been left out in the cold by state legislators. More properly known as HB583, the bill proposed by Rep. Gail Chasey (left) would have levied a 1% surcharge on video games and TV sets. The measure enjoyed the support of environmental group the Sierra Club. But the Associated Press is now reporting that HB583 has failed to clear the New Mexico Legislature’s House Business & Industry Committee. From the AP: The measure had been backed by a broad coalition of groups, led by the Sierra Club. The fund would have helped pay for outdoor education throughout the state. The tax would have been the first of its kind in the nation... Critics complained they shouldn't have to foot the bill for parents who don't know how to raise their children. This entry was posted on Saturday, February 16th, 2008 at 9:16 am and is filed under Politics & Legislation, Video Game Industry/Economics, Game Consumer News, Games & Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Earlier this week GamePolitics reported on a New Mexico proposal which would impose a 1% sales tax on video games and TV sets. The Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) has now issued a statement in opposition to the New Mexico tax: The Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) is opposed to the legislation proposed by the New Mexico Sierra Club. It’s unconstitutional to target video games with a special tax that would unduly burden gamers, leaving out other forms of entertainment media like movies, music and books. This proposed tax would also stifle trade and disproportionately impact generations X and Y, who are increasingly becoming more politically aware and vocal. This entry was posted on Friday, January 25th, 2008 at 7:41 am and is filed under Politics & Legislation, Game Consumer News, ECA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Much has been written of late about a proposal before the New Mexico legislature that would levy a 1% tax on video games and TV sets. Older court cases dealing with other media have also made it clear that public-policy makers are forbidden from using the power to tax in an effort to discriminate against speech or expression that they disfavor. In cases such as Grosjean v. American Press Co. (1936), Minneapolis Star & Tribune Co. v. Minnesota Commissioner of Revenue (1983), and Arkansas Writers’ Project, Inc. v. Ragland (1987), the Supreme Court has held as unconstitutional state laws that singled out newspapers or magazines for unique tax burdens. The New Mexico tax proposal raises similar fairness questions. Why just blame video games... How about a tax on social-networking Web sites or instant messaging? ...Perhaps we should tax Sudoku books, chess boards, and even arts and crafts! After all, the goal here is to do whatever it takes to get kids outside, right? Or is it really just to get kids to stop playing video games? This entry was posted on Friday, February 15th, 2008 at 9:01 am and is filed under People, Politics & Legislation, Game Consumer News, Games & Health, First Amendment, Games & the Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Last week GamePolitics reported on Wisconsin State Senator Jon Erpenbach’s proposal to levy a 1% surcharge on video games and consoles in order to fund a juvenile justice program. WISC-TV has more, including comments from Erpenbach and a 37-year-old gamer Wisconsin gamer who objects to the tax. The State Senator said: The [video game tax] idea being that this is kind of a kids-kids thing, in other words, if we’re going to do this for kids maybe this would be a good way to go about it. And if it’s not the best way, I’m open to any other way. I just think [the video game tax is] pretty unfair to attack gamers and have them pay for something they, more than likely, have nothing to do with. I think it’s a real problem. Even if that’s not what the intention is, it creates the impression that there’s something wrong with the video games because we need to put some extra tax on there to try to dissuade people from playing them. This entry was posted on Monday, December 24th, 2007 at 11:07 am and is filed under Politics & Legislation, Game Consumer News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
The latest proposal that would tax video games (and televisions) in an effort to fund other, seemingly unrelated programs has popped up in New Mexico, initiated by the Sierra Club. The environmental...
Last week GamePolitics reported on HR5990, a new piece of video game legislation proposed in Congress by Reps. Lee Terry (R-NE) and Jim Matheson (D-UT). Also known as the Video Games Rating Enforcement Act, the bill would require retailers to check ID for buyers of M-rated games. The Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) has issued an action alert on this bill. ECA members and non-members alike can click here to voice their thoughts about HR5990 to their congressional representative. From the action alert: HR 5990, the Video Games Rating Enforcement Act, is another Congressional attempt to unconstitutionally regulate the sale of video games. If it's passed, the federal courts will find it unconstitutional - and at great expense to taxpayers. GP: Readers may find it worth noting that Rep. Terry alleged that in some games players earn points by committing rape. However in an exclusive interview with GamePolitics, the Congressman admitted that he could not name a single game which featured rape. Rep. Terry was also unaware of last week’s Federal Trade Commission report which showed that game retailers were successful 80% of the time in turning away underage buyers. Rep. Terry instead was relying on 2003 data in which retailers had only a 31% turn-away rate. This entry was posted on Monday, May 12th, 2008 at 1:59 pm and is filed under Politics & Legislation, Game Consumer News, ECA, First Amendment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Last week GamePolitics reported on HR5990, a new piece of video game legislation proposed in Congress by Reps. Lee Terry (R-NE) and Jim Matheson (D-UT). Also known as the Video Games Rating Enforcement Act, the bill would require retailers to check ID for buyers of M-rated games. The Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) has issued an action alert on this bill. ECA members and non-members alike can click here to voice their thoughts about HR5990 to their congressional representative. From the action alert: HR 5990, the Video Games Rating Enforcement Act, is another Congressional attempt to unconstitutionally regulate the sale of video games. If it's passed, the federal courts will find it unconstitutional - and at great expense to taxpayers. GP: Readers may find it worth noting that Rep. Terry alleged that in some games players earn points by committing rape. However in an exclusive interview with GamePolitics, the Congressman admitted that he could not name a single game which featured rape. Rep. Terry was also unaware of last week's Federal Trade Commission report which showed that game retailers were successful 80% of the time in turning away underage buyers. Rep. Terry instead was relying on 2003 data in which retailers had only a 31% turn-away rate.
The Entertainment Merchants Association, the trade group which represents the interests of a large bloc of video game retailers, has issued a statement on Tuesday's passage of video game legislation by the New York State Senate: The bill is unnecessary and seeks to solve a problem that does not exist. But we do not anticipate that video game software retailers will have a problem complying with its requirements. (It is important to note that NY law already requires DVD packages to display the rating of the movie.) With passagein both the New York State Senate and Assembly, the measure now proceeds to Gov. David Paterson, who is likely to sign it into law.