Politicians are officially attacking sports. In the Legislature’s proposed budget, a “memorabilia tax” would be imposed. This tax, as the name suggests, would increase the price of sports memorabilia.

Want a new Gophers jersey? Tax increase. Want a Gophers T-shirt? Tax increase. Want a Vikings jersey or a Twins jersey? Tax increase. Excited to support the Wild as they head into the playoffs, and want to buy some merchandise? Tax increase. Want to get the new Madden game? Tax increase.

With this tax, anything that is part of a registered sports association would see a tax increase. Anything associated with the NCAA, NFL, MLB, etc. will see a tax increase. Who do you think will be required to foot the bill for this?

The consumer, of course.

This tax needs to be stopped. As a college student, I love supporting the Gophers. However, this tax makes it more costly to do so. College students are poor enough as is; the last thing we need is to have to pay more for a simple Gophers T-shirt. The revenue from this would not go to fund the new Vikings stadium or anything of the like; instead, it would give the Legislature a 35 percent pay raise. This is irresponsible, and it needs to be stopped. Call your legislator, and ask them to remove this tax proposal from the omnibus tax bill.