I got word of this article from @MustLoveBeer off of Twitter. Our old “friend” Jim Beall Jr. is back at it again with his newly proposed beer tax. His last attempt received so much criticism that it was, thankfully, shot down before it could gain any sort of momentum. The devil is in the details, as they say, and Beall’s Bill may have a better chance of passage this time. Read the Assembly Bill 1019 below:
Assembly Bill 1019 – Free Legal Forms
In an article written by Mike Zapler of the San Jose Mercury News, the new bill would add 10 cents to every pint of beer, glass of wine or shot of distilled spirit. Unlike the last time, Beall has written this new increase as a fee versus a tax. The difference, and it’s a major one, is that fees need only majority vote to pass while a tax would require a 2/3rd supermajority to be implemented. In addition, Beall may have the support of the Governator as Schwarzenegger proposed a 5-cent increase in the past. Monies raised by the new fee would be used to back alcohol and drug related programs.
Dan Gordon, the “Gordon” part of Gordon Biersch, opposes the new bill. Even though the fee will be charged to wholesalers, Gordon argues that there will be a trickle down effect and when the buck finally stops, it will be the consumer who has to food the bill. Another thing that is on our side is that the bill targets more than just beer, the wine and distilled spirits industries will be hit up as well. You can bet your bottom dollar that beer, wine and distilled spirits will be putting their considerable resources together to try and stop this bill from passing.
Let’s just call Assembly Bill 1019 what it really is: prohibitionism in the form of a sin tax. Didn’t we learn our lesson already? Prohibition didn’t work the first time and it won’t work now. Even then, sin taxes are discriminatory, unfair and target personal behaviors that governments should not be butting their noses into anyway.
But why target alcohol alone? Jim Beall argues that alcohol is a killer, that it is a factor in many other crimes and that it is a drain on our resources. These are all points I cannot disagree with. Yet if you look to the Center for Disease Control, the following are the leading causes of death in the United States:
- Heart disease: 652,091
- Cancer: 559,312
- Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 143,579
- Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 130,933
- Accidents (unintentional injuries): 117,809
- Diabetes: 75,119
- Alzheimer’s disease: 71,599
- Influenza/Pneumonia: 63,001
- Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 43,901
- Septicemia: 34,136
If Assemblyman Beall is going to make it a point to punish alcohol (and tobacco) for the issues they cause, his efforts would be better off served taxing the McDonalds, Burger Kings and Taco Bells of the world for their roles in contributing to heart disease. Might as well as fine corporations and cut funding to schools that don’t mandate exercise for their roles in contributing to heart disease. Impose “fees” to Hostess, Coca-Cola and Pepsi for their roles in diabetes. If Assemblyman Beall targeted the industries that contributed to diabetes alone California would be out of debt.
The problems that alcohol causes are real and serious, no one disputes that. I don’t profess to know the answer to solve those particular problems and I would question anyone who says they do. What I do know is that Assemblyman Beall’s newly proposed alcohol fee is not the answer. I urge my fellow beer lovers, wine enthusiasts and distilled spirit connoisseurs to write to Jim Beall, or their respective representatives, and let them know of your opposition to this bill. These are our elected officials and we should never forget that they work for the us. Alone, there’s not much I can do. Together, there’s nothing we cannot accomplish.
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The facts speak for themselves that while alcohol causes some horrible, dramatic, and unexpected deaths and crimes, poor diet and other health problems quietly take away years away from people’s lives without anyone really noticing.
My biggest objection to this tax is not that is that it is a misguided tax, but that it is a regressive tax. Everyone, regardless of income, will pay the same amount per drink. People with lower incomes will be taxed at a higher percentage of their income than those with higher incomes. That’s not a fair tax.
If there’s a silver lining, if this tax passes, the big industrial brewers have more to lose, since their customers are more price sensitive than craft beer consumers.