A little over a week ago, Sen. David Hoyle (D-Gaston) introduced SB 1210, a bill that would arbitrarily double the cost of license fees for Athletic Trainers from $100 to $200, as well as increasing renewal fees and fees to reinstate a lapsed licenses.
The bill, which is currently in committee, states no reason for raising fees, but there is the obvious implication of state government seeking another avenue of income. Rather than looking to cut costs or root out inefficiencies within extant and financially encumbering bureaucracies, Sen. Hoyle perfectly exemplifies government’s preference to raise money at the tax payer’s expense. Additionally, Sen. Hoyle is taking a more clandestine route to revenue enhancement, as raising fees on a small subsection of society would not draw as much public attention as would raising taxes to a large sect of the population.
Athletic trainers generally earn in the neighborhood of $30-$40,000 a year, thus to an athletic trainer this extra $100 is no trifle. This boils down to a barrier to entry that will make it at best uncomfortable, at worst difficult, for start-up individuals in this vocation.
This is an example of the slow creeping growth of government, like a vine that extends itself a few inches more overnight. While some might see this as individually insignificant, it is indicative of a larger, more universal propensity that must be restrained.
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