For months, we have stressed the importance of the Legislature passing tougher laws during this session against drunken driving in Wisconsin. We've endorsed the idea of raising the liquor tax, or even increasing the beer tax for the first time in more than four decades. Whatever it takes to fully fund tough measures.
Still, as Sen. Jim Sullivan, D-Wauwatosa, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Thursday, "nobody wants to impose a tax if you don't have to."
Apparently, Senate Democrats have determined they don't have to impose, or raise, a tax to pay for new drunken-driving provisions. The Senate has dropped its plan to increase the liquor tax to pay for measures provided for in legislation, Sullivan, the bill's lead sponsor, said Thursday.
It's able to do so, he said, because new estimates show the bill will cost only about half as much as previously believed. So instead of the tax increase, Senate Democrats now say the measures can be funded by increasing fees for suspended and revoked driver's licenses by about $60.
That's a better solution than a tax increase. It puts the onus of funding the expense of tougher drunk-driving laws on those who have broken driving laws. Perhaps the higher price of penalty also will serve as a deterrent.
The best news, though, is that Thursday's decision removes a major obstacle to the bill's final passage, particularly in the Assembly, which passed a bill in September without the tax increase.
That's a positive development, indeed.
Still, as Sen. Jim Sullivan, D-Wauwatosa, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Thursday, "nobody wants to impose a tax if you don't have to."
Apparently, Senate Democrats have determined they don't have to impose, or raise, a tax to pay for new drunken-driving provisions. The Senate has dropped its plan to increase the liquor tax to pay for measures provided for in legislation, Sullivan, the bill's lead sponsor, said Thursday.
It's able to do so, he said, because new estimates show the bill will cost only about half as much as previously believed. So instead of the tax increase, Senate Democrats now say the measures can be funded by increasing fees for suspended and revoked driver's licenses by about $60.
That's a better solution than a tax increase. It puts the onus of funding the expense of tougher drunk-driving laws on those who have broken driving laws. Perhaps the higher price of penalty also will serve as a deterrent.
The best news, though, is that Thursday's decision removes a major obstacle to the bill's final passage, particularly in the Assembly, which passed a bill in September without the tax increase.
That's a positive development, indeed.
