In his 2009 – 2011 Budget Address, the governor stated: “People in this state have reasonable expectations, and we can meet them. We can draw on our resources, and find the revenues we need to keep our priorities whole. And we can do it without raising taxes on middle class families.”

The governor’s newest resource of revenue is your phone. Beginning October 1st, 2009, every Wisconsinite who owns a phone – regardless whether it’s a landline or a cell phone will pay an additional 75 cent per month tax.

This tax is being collected to fund a new 911 dispatch center grant program and will cost individuals and businesses $102.6 million over the next two years.

The new tax will be added to each land line and fax line. For cell phone plans, the tax will be added to each cell phone on the plan. If you are a family with 4 cell phones, a land line and a fax line, you will now pay an additional $4.50 per month in phone taxes.

One cannot deny that the state’s 911 system is important and saves lives on a daily basis. Which begs the question, why would Governor Doyle raid the E911 fund prior to creating a new 911 grant program?

In 2003, the Wisconsin legislature created a six year surcharge on cell phone bills to assist local governments with technology upgrades for pin pointing wireless emergency calls. On April 1, 2009, state law sunsetted the program and its fees.

According to administrative rule, the Public Service Commission (PSC) is required to distribute any surplus funds to the wireless customers that paid the fees. At the time of sunset, the E911 fund had a balance of $20.3 million.

But don’t waste time sitting by your mailbox waiting for a rebate check from your cell phone provider. In his state budget proposal, Governor Doyle raided the $20.3 million that was supposed to be refunded to you the cell phone user and spent it on other pet projects. On a straight party line vote of 11 – 4, Joint Finance Committee Democrats approved Governor Doyle’s raid.

But the Democrats on the Joint Finance Committee weren’t satisfied with a new tax of $102.6 million and a raid of $20.3 million. They additionally approved a $37.7 million increase in the state’s telephone Universal Service Fund.

The Universal Service Fund was established under the 1993 Wisconsin Act 496 to ensure that low-income customers, customers with disabilities, non-profit groups, medical clinics, and public health agencies would have access to advanced telecommunications capabilities.

As it stands now, the Universal Service Fund fee is only imposed on landline customers. Last session, I co-sponsored legislation which would have prohibited the Public Service Commission from imposing The Universal Service Fund fee on cell phone customers. The bill passed in the Wisconsin State Assembly, but was never debated in the State Senate.

Because the Democrat controlled Senate didn’t pass last year’s bill, the Universal Service Fund fee will now be imposed on all cell phone users in the state of Wisconsin. Unbelievably, before the first dollar is ever collected, the new fund will be raided by Governor Doyle.

The Joint Finance Committee again on a straight Democrat party line vote of 11-4 directed $11.2 million of the Universal Service Fund fees to public libraries. In a May 5th memo to the members on the Joint Finance Committee, the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau pointed out that the fee to phone users will need to be additionally increased to cover this transfer.

By funding public libraries with Universal Service Fund fees, Governor Doyle and Democrat members of the Joint Finance Committee were able to shift the original $11.2 million tax dollars allotted to public libraries and spend that money again on Madison special interest programs.

Lastly, Governor Doyle’s budget adds an $800,000 assessment on telecommunications companies to pay for consumer protection functions at the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP).

According to Governor Doyle, his budget would enact legislation and budgetary tactics friendly to the middle class. No matter if you call it a tax, fee, or assessment, this additional $161 million revenue resource will be passed onto you - the middle class.