Will be imposed on the sale price of every TV, video game, or any video game equipment to pay for outdoor education initiatives.
It seems like New Mexico’s legislature has an abundance of free time on its hands with news that it has recently proposed an excise tax on TVs, video games, and video game equipment to fund a new program intended to get kids out of the house more often.
The “Leave No Child Inside Act,” as it is referred to, will will be used to do the following:
(1) develop curriculum-based programs for teachers to use on public lands and at other outdoor learning sites for outdoor education initiatives;
(2) develop hands-on teaching materials for children for use in outdoor education programs;
(3) provide transportation for children to experience outdoor education programs;
(4) provide substantial and frequent outdoor experiences for children; and
(5) increase outdoor nature-oriented physical activity programs for school-age children.
Though admittedly I think it’s a noble gesture, I find it downright unfair that citizens of that state would be forced to pay extra for a product simply because other citizens are being lax in their obligations as parents. By allowing their children’s health to presumably deteriorate because of “gaming negligence,” they should be held responsible and not the rest of society.
Lazy parenting should not be probable cause for instituting a tax on the citizens of New Mexico.
What happens if they decide that kids who eat poorly, thanks to similar poor parenting skills I might point out, also need “education.” Will New Mexicans be asked to pay higher prices for food as well?
Surely New Mexico’s legislature has better things to do with its time then creating new taxes to solve the “evils” of Halo 3.
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lol nice picture
Example phone conversation between 2 young (ages 12-15) kids
Kid 1: so did you get Halo 3?
Kid 2: no couldn’t afford it
Kid 1: So what do you want to do
Kid 2: we could do one of those outdoor things they’ve been talking about
Kid 1: nah…..they’re gay!
Kid 2: (laughs)
Kid 1: so you want to play hockey or something?
Kid 2: can’t my blades are broken
Kid 1: uh you want to get some booze from my mom’s cabinet again? At least it’s something…
Kid 2: alright hey maybe we can see what Sara and Tracey are doing tonight maybe they’ll want to get drunk!
Kid 1: dude……..awesome idea!
Dont they tax people enough to pay for other peoples kids by making them pay for schools. why the hell should someone who has no kids be forced to support someone elses kids thats just retarded.
Well this is kind of the same as the cigarette’s tax. They figure if it is too expensive people won’t do it. Of course we see how well that worked for cigarettes so now we’ll see how well it works for gaming. I seriously doubt this will have any effect especially since it’s only 1% tax and kids aren’t the ones paying it. an extra 50 cents on a 50 dollar game isn’t going to do squat to make a parent go “that’s to expensive I’m not buying it” and kids are going to game instead of play outside regardless of if there are jungle gyms or whatever.
@cRipkILLa69
Exactly……just because I want to buy a TV doesn’t mean I should have to pay a tax to educate crumby parents and lazy kids….
Just another excuse for a new department to scam more money off people.
First of all raising the tax on cigarrettes is the main reason why people stop smoking. This is why tobacco companies fight all tax hikes. They lose customers. A lot of people cant afford to kill themselves anymore.
But anyway this isnt what this game tax seems to be doing. The tax isnt supposed to be a deterrent to buying the game. Its just a way to raise revenue for…parks and such. Things could be doing other than playing video games.
It’s not the greatest of ideas and I think New Mexico has bigger problems than kids playing video games. It’s one of the poorest states in the country. Has one of the lowest literacy rates high school graduation rates et cetera. Presumably a high teenage pregnancy rate too. These are the things that should be addressed first.
Anyone else find this law just kind of pointless?
Let me explain: Kids want to play video games because the games are the best form of entertainment. The government decides to tax games to use funds to create maintain and promote outdoor activities. The very activities kids already know of and have no interest in.
Basically the only way this can work is if they make the outdoor activities more interesting then video games and TV. I think Vegas is giving 8*10^76:1 odds on that happening.