A bill proposed in the state Legislature in early January would move 17-year-olds from the adult to the juvenile court system in Wisconsin, with extra costs covered by a one percent tax on the purchase of video games and gaming systems.

The legislation, proposed by Sen. John Erpenbach, D-Waunakee, is facing opposition from the video game industry, though the senator is open to other options for financing the change.

Julie Laundrie, spokesperson for Erpenbach, said returning 17-year-olds to the juvenile system would be a better option for them ? as they would receive more treatment than in the adult system ? and would be wiser for the state in the long run.

?Adult jails just teach kids how to commit adult crimes,? Laundrie said, adding that juveniles who go into adult facilities are 34 percent more likely to commit a felony after being released. ?Do we really want 30,000 kids every year going into adult facilities and learning to be criminals??

However, the legislation drew criticism from the Entertainment Software Association, which called the proposed tax discriminatory and unconstitutional.

?It unfairly burdens all Wisconsin consumers by imposing a double tax on video games and game consoles,? Entertainment Software Association President Michael Gallagher said in an e-mail to The Badger Herald.

Gallagher also wrote the bill would negatively affect Wisconsin citizens who work in the video game industry.

?This bill will stunt an industry that is growing in Wisconsin at over 11 percent per year and contributes more than $23 million to the state economy,? Gallagher added.

However, Wendy Henderson, a juvenile justice and child welfare policy analyst for the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, said the size and profitability of the video game industry is one thing that encouraged the writers of the bill to put a tax on video games.

?We?re hoping that, since this is a really booming and growing industry, that it will provide revenue for the treatment that a lot of youth really need, and in the end it will benefit a lot of young people,? Henderson said.

Laundrie said the tax on video games was just one option for paying for the proposal and that Erpenbach is open to other ideas.

?He?s not married to the idea of the video game tax,? Laundrie said. ?Right now our budgets have been really tight.?

Henderson added the bill?s purpose was not to discourage youth from buying video games, and she doubts many people will be dissuaded from purchasing them based on such a small tax.

Proponents of the bill have also rejected claims that the legislation reflects a correlation among youth between playing video games and committing crime.

?We?re really not trying to draw that correlation, and for us the overriding issue is the policy issue,? Henderson said. ?We think it is absolutely imperative at this time that Wisconsin returns 17-year-olds to the juvenile system.?

Wisconsin is one of 12 states that try 17-year-olds as adults in all cases, though they may petition to be tried as juveniles in some cases. The legislation would not change the law that stipulates anyone older than 10 can be tried as an adult for serious violent crimes like homicide.