Doyle Wants to Jack Up Background Check Fee

Doyle just doesn’t stop. 

Gov. Jim Doyle wants to increase fees for handgun purchase background checks.

Doyle’s executive budget calls for raising the check fee from $8 to $30.

The state Department of Justice asked Doyle to raise the fee from $8 to $13 to reflect the increased costs of performing the checks, but Doyle, a Democrat, went further.

Herein we come to the discussion about the difference between a tax and a fee.  When a fee is used for things other than to cover the specific services it was levied for, it becomes a tax.  In this case, an increase in the fee to $13 to cover the actual cost of doing the background check is legitimate (assuming that is the actual cost).  By increasing it further, Doyle is converting the fee into a tax. 

Yet another tax increase from our governor.