Berceau's beer tax bill better left on bar room floor

I don't suspect that Rep. Terese Berceau's proposal to raise the beer tax in Wisconsin will ever make it to the floor of the Legislature, let alone be signed into law by Gov. Doyle (who has stated his opposition to it already).

Still, her proposal to increase the tax on a barrel from $2 to $10 - but only for beers made in Wisconsin - raises some interesting questions and has prompted an overdue debate.

At first blush, it would be easy to think, "Oh the beer industry makes tons of cash, and their taxes haven't been raised in decades, so this shouldn't be a problem." Plus, part of Berceau's proposal is that the increased revenue that would presumably result from such a change would go toward funding enforcement of drunk driving laws. So what's not to like?

I'm 100% behind efforts to curb the number of people who get behind the wheel wasted or even tipsy. I just don't think this particular bill is the way to do it - nor do I think it's entirely honest to say that this is what it's really all about.

As I already mentioned, the tax would only apply to in-state breweries: ie, micro and craft brewers. Big conglomerates like Anheuser Busch and MillerCoors would get off scot-free, even though they're the companies most able to absorb an additional cost such as this. Meanwhile, smaller, local breweries would pay the price.

Chris Staples, one of the owners of Madison-area brewery Furthermore Beer, recently wrote a thoughtful piece about his opposition to the proposed tax bill. It was the first thing I'd read that made me really sit up and take notice of the issue, and to rethink my initial position on it. Staples makes it clear that he's not against paying their fair share, just that Berceau's particular bill is the wrong way to go about things. You can read the whole thing here.

Wisconsin definitely suffers from a schizophrenic relationship with alcohol. We have a long and storied history of producing some of the best beer, but we have an equally lengthy record of abusing the fruits of our labors. Better enforcement of drinking related laws is important. Greater focus on treatment and prevention is even more crucial. But we also need to make sure our politicians, for all their apparently noble gestures toward the aforementioned goals, are really working toward what's best for Wisconsinites...and not the big corporations with the least investment in our communities.


(photo by Chris_J on Flickr)

Strange Brew

Our dear leaders up at the capitol finally saw fit to pass a state budget yesterday, which is good, but only after the Democrats ceded some of the best parts of it (universal health care) and kept some of the worst parts (taking $200 million from the fund used to help pay medical malpractice awards), which is bad.

Apparently the long, drawn-out and very tedious work of doing their jobs also made the legislators very thirsty, as they slipped last-minute provisions into the budget that 1) make it legal for liquor and grocery stores to hand out free samples of hard liquor and 2) allows, as far as I can tell, that a brewer, "in providing beer to its own retail premises, is not subject to restrictions on the sale, transportation, and delivery of beer generally applicable to wholesalers and retailers."

I'm not entirely sure I understand the ramifications of the latter point, but the Madison Beer Review does a good job of laying it out for us. From what I can tell, it hurts smaller microbreweries with slightly unusual/clever distribution methods and pretty much just benefits The Great Dane.

It's always fascinating to see what little tidbits get added onto otherwise unrelated bills and/or budgets, and this is, I'm sure, just the tip of the iceberg. I'm happy we've finally even passed a damn budget, but this kind of thing has always seemed especially shady to me. No time or will for a proper debate of the subject, so something just gets passed under the radar. That seems just a little dangerous.

In the end, I'm more upset about losing what would have been the most progressive and beneficial health care program in the country than I am about beer and liquor laws, but it's all certainly worth noting. In the end, the main problem is that the majority of our lawmakers seem more concerned with lining their pocketbooks and pleasing their donors and lobbyists than they do with taking care of the people they're supposed to represent. And that's an issue we all need to take up come election time. Don't let them forget that gross incompetence on the job will result in consequences--most notably, by not getting re-elected.

P.S. Silent Sports has a great call to arms against some of the line items in the budget to do with funding yet more ATV trails in Wisconsin. Check it out and make the calls!