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Stop Federal Alcohol Tax Cuts!
Alcohol industry lobbyists are back on Capitol Hill fighting for self-serving cuts in federal excise taxes on alcohol. Reducing taxes on alcoholic beverages is bad fiscal and public health policy. Lower alcohol taxes would only add to the deficit, cater to a prosperous industry, reward and encourage heavy drinking, and attract more young drinkers. Voice your opposition to alcohol tax cuts and urge rejection of such unwise, industry-backed proposals in the 108th Congress.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Oppose reductions in Federal Alcohol Taxes
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
I am writing to ask that you oppose any reductions in federal excise taxes on alcoholic beverages, and decline co-sponsorship of bills promoted by the beer and liquor industries to substantially reduce excise taxes on those products (beer tax rollback bills H.R. 1305 and H.R. 52, and any bill that may be introduced to reduce liquor taxes). For the following reasons, such legislation is bad public health and fiscal policy:
- Lower alcohol taxes would rob the treasury at a time of rising deficits only to unnecessarily benefit an already thriving industry.
- Federal excise taxes on alcoholic beverages are low by international standards and lag far behind inflation.
- Current federal and state taxes on alcoholic beverages don't come close to offsetting the public health and safety costs of alcohol consumption. If anything, beer and liquor taxes should be raised to help meet prevention, treatment, law enforcement, and other costs associated with excessive and underage drinking.
- By wide margins, the American public supports increases - not decreases - in alcohol taxes. That's because more than 35% don't drink at all and among those who do, most drink so little that they would barely notice a tax decrease (or increase). Alcohol tax cuts would benefit only producers and the 20% of drinkers who consume 85% of the alcohol.
Please put the best interests of public health and safety and the young people of America ahead of alcohol companies' profits and the pocketbooks of their heavy-drinking best customers. I hope you will reject all efforts to reduce federal taxes on alcoholic beverages and consider ways to increase them instead. Thank you for your consideration and reply.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
January 30, 2003
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Last year alcohol producers gathered considerable Congressional support for legislation to slash federal excise taxes on their products. Having contributed heavily to campaign coffers in the 2002 Congressional elections, brewers and distillers, plan a renewed push for tax breaks in the 108th Congress – a Congress which may look favorably on such "tax relief."
On March 29, 2001, Rep. Philip English (R-PA) introduced H.R. 1305, a bill "to reduce the federal excise tax on beer to its pre-1991 [i.e. 1951] level." The bill had 225 co-sponsors as of December, 2003. Also, just before the 107th Congress adjourned, Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) introduced companion legislation in the Senate (S.3175), but the Senate bill died without co-sponsors.
On May 25, 2001, Rep. Ron Lewis (R-KY) introduced H.R. 2023, a bill "to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce the rate of tax on distilled spirits to its pre-1985 [i.e. 1951] level." The bill had 97 co-sponsors when the 107th Congress adjourned.
Just days after the opening of the 108th Congress, on January 7, 2003, Rep. Christopher Cox (R-CA-47th) re-introduced legislation "to reduce the federal excise tax on beer to its pre-1991 level." That bill has gathered 13 co-sponsors as of March 25, 2003.
NEW!!! But in a bigger threat, on March 18, 2003, Reps. Phil English (R-PA) and Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) re-introduced beer-tax cut bill H.R. 1305 (same bill number as in the previous Congress), with 122 original co-sponsors. The bill, and list of original co-sponsors can be viewed at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:HR01305:@@@P
Brewers and beer wholesalers will now push to gather additional co-sponsors on H.R. 1305, and distillers will likely re-introduce a liquor tax cut bill.
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