Colorado Politics’ Marissa Ventrelli reports that the Colorado House advanced House Bill 1148, a proposal to place a 5% fee on certain in-game purchases in children’s online games to fund youth mental health services. The bill would create three state enterprises to support in-school counseling, before- and after-school programs, and an education rights enforcement program for students with disabilities.
Supporters argue gaming platforms use addictive design features that contribute to anxiety, depression, and compulsive spending among kids. Opponents, including industry groups and even state officials, warn the bill could violate federal law, raise privacy concerns, run into TABOR problems, and unfairly charge people who may never use the services. In other words, lawmakers found a real crisis and immediately reached for their favorite tool: a brand-new fee with a government-growth attachment.
The Bullet Point Brief
- The House approved a 5% fee on certain in-game purchases in children’s online games. Another fee. Democrats love FEEEEEES. It is like taxes, but with a fake mustache.
- The money would fund youth mental health services through three new state enterprises. Because nothing says “help the kids” like building more government plumbing before the first counselor sees a child.
- Supporters say platforms like Roblox and Minecraft use features that can keep kids hooked and worsen mental health problems. Fair point. Some of these games are designed like tiny casinos wearing cartoon pants.
- Opponents say the bill may violate the Internet Tax Freedom Act and could trigger constitutional problems under equal protection and commerce clause arguments. Translation: this thing may arrive in court before it ever helps a kid.
- The Behavioral Health Administration said it supports the programs, but not the mechanism. That is bureaucrat-speak for “good goal, bad bill, please stop handing us lawsuits with a ribbon on them.”
My Bottom Line
Another fee. Of course. Because under the gold dome, every problem eventually becomes an excuse to create a fee, an enterprise, a board, a fund, a program, a stakeholder process, and a press release about compassion.
Look, we have a mental health crisis. We absolutely do. Especially a youth mental health crisis. It is real in Colorado. It is real across this nation. Kids are anxious, isolated, addicted to screens, socially scrambled, and too often drowning in a culture that feeds them dopamine pellets through a glowing rectangle. Parents are exhausted. Schools are overwhelmed. Counselors are hard to find. Rural communities are stretched thin. None of that should be ignored.
But rather than creating more fees and a bigger government grift, we need to knock down the barriers to entry for mental health care providers. Make it easier for qualified counselors, therapists, faith-based providers, school partners, and community organizations to serve kids. Expand access by reducing bureaucracy, not by inventing a new fee machine aimed at digital purchases.
The left sees a shortage and builds a toll booth. I see a shortage and ask why providers cannot get into the field faster, why licensing takes so long, why reimbursement is a nightmare, why rural access is so limited, and why every solution seems to require another government enterprise with its own little kingdom.
Yes, we should talk seriously about what online gaming and screen addiction are doing to kids. Some of these platforms are engineered to keep children engaged, spending, scrolling, clicking, and coming back. Parents need tools. Schools need support. Kids need help. But I do not trust the Legislature to fix a mental health crisis by slapping a fee on Roblox and calling it policy.
This is the Colorado Democrat playbook in miniature: find a real problem, blame an industry, create a fee, grow government, and hope nobody notices the actual barriers remain standing. We can do better. For the sake of our kids, we had better.
Source: Colorado Politics
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