State Representative William Fourkiller's proposed bill for the state of Oklahoma in the United States that would have imposed a one per cent tax on video games rated Teen or higher was shot down by the Oklahoma House Revenue and Tax Subcommittee. The money from the bill would have gone towards the state's obesity and bullying prevention funds. The bill, which the Oklahoma committee members voted down 5 yeas to 6 nays, was too vague and misleading for them to pass. Representative Pat Owenby (Republican) asked Fourkiller, "Why just video games? Why not French fries or rap music or movies?" When Fourkiller protested, "We have to start somewhere. There's no magic bullet that will solve these issues, but I want to raise awareness of these two issues," representative Mike Reynolds (Republican) replied, ""It's not a good idea. We could have a task force on a multitude of reasons children are obese." ." Shooting down the bill probably saved the Oklahoman taxpayers a good chunk of money, as Californians are footing the bill for the 2005 videogame law that was deemed un-Constitutional by the US government at the cost of $2M (the amount has now raised from the original $1.3M.) |
Proposed 1% "violent videogame" tax shot down in Oklahoma
25 February 2012 | By Jonah A. Falcon
- Source:
- Eurogamer