A plan was presented to lawmakers last week to increase the amount individuals pay in professional licensing fees, which would generate an additional $7.6 million in funding, the Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing said Friday.
The raise in fees would apply to about 375,000 people in 128 different professions, ranging from lawyers and real estate agents to funeral parlor directors and veterinarians.
If the plan were to pass, it would raise professional licensing fees for the first time since 2001.
According to David Carlson, spokesperson for DRL, the raise in fees is in no way an attempt to counteract Wisconsin’s current $5.4 billion budget deficit.
“The reason for the raise is because the department needs to adjust rates according to how much work has gone into the processing of licenses based on each profession,” Carlson said.
Carlson also added that costs such as changes in employee pay, adaptations for new requirements and increased building fees have raised the amount of money needed to successfully run the DRL. The proposed increase would raise the funds taken in by the DRL from $23.8 million to $31.4 million within the next two years.
Currently, the proposal is in Legislative passive review, a process where members of the Joint Committee on Finance have 14 work days to raise objections before the bill automatically passes. Should the proposal pass the review, raised fees will go into effect July 1.
Many have supported the plan, saying that it gains the increased funding needed for the DRL without having a large consequence on those obtaining the licenses.
“The fee increases are moderate and will be spread over a large number of individuals, so I don’t think it will have a large effect on any one person,” said Eric Peterson, spokesperson for Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, a member of the Joint Finance Committee.
Although Peterson and Carlson say that they have seen little opposition to the plan thus far, some of Wisconsin’s Republican lawmakers think the proposal will just hurt Wisconsin’s professionals.
According to Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine, also a member of the committee, many have not had time to review the proposed increase because of the large amount of legislation the Doyle administration has pushed through the Legislature in a relatively short amount of time regarding the budget crisis.
“I don’t think that this plan is an example of responsible government. The department wants to raise funds and hurt the average citizen just so that more money can be transferred into the general operating fund and used for unintended purposes,” Vos said.
Despite Vos’ negative view of the plan, Peterson thinks that the proposal is just one of many instances where tough choices will arise for Wisconsin lawmakers.
“Because of the budget deficit and the hard times that the state is going through, we have to make some choices that may not be popular,” Peterson said.
