The Wisconsin District Attorney Association released a resolution Monday proposing a raise in the state's alcohol tax to fund more public prosecutors.
The WDAA hopes the state Legislature will consider the tax increase to resolve the shortage of prosecutors in the state, many of whom have quit because of low pay, heavy caseloads and understaffing.
According to WDAA President Ralph Uttke, the Legislative Audit Bureau did a study in 2007 that found the state is in need of 121 more prosecutors, a shortage Uttke said is critical.""
Uttke said he is not sure what the exact amount of the tax increase would be, but does not think it would be significant enough to greatly reduce consumer demand for alcohol.
""It would be such a minimal tax, the likelihood is on a six pack of beer it would be less than two cents, so I don't see that it would decrease the amount of alcohol consumed dramatically,"" he said.
Wisconsin has the third lowest beer tax in the country, according to the proposal, at 6.5 cents per gallon.
John Murray, spokesperson for state Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said a bill proposing the tax increase will very likely get introduced in the Legislature in the next session, but similar bills have faced opposition from both Republicans and Democrats in the past.
State Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, authored a bill proposing an increased beer tax two years ago. He said the bill was ""very unsuccessful"" and was not even given a hearing.
Risser did not say how successful he thought the WDAA proposal could be in the Legislature, but said it may depend on how high the increase would be.
""I think that increasing the tax on alcohol is a legitimate source of raising revenue,"" Risser said.
Although he would have no problem with the tax increase, Risser said a very strong lobby group, the Tavern League of Wisconsin, would be opposed to the measure.
According to Murray, district attorneys can be influential in regard to legislation, but he does not believe more taxes are the answer.
""The problem isn't that we tax too little but that we spend too much,"" Murray said.
