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Central Illinois Gazette

Bad news for beer drinkers

Posted by: Tom Kacich

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 11:24 AM

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Six-Pack may have to hand over nearly $2 more for a case of beer to help provide health insurance for all.
Details of the proposed beer tax are described in a Senate Finance Committee document distributed to lawmakers in advance of a closed-door meeting Wednesday. Senators are focusing on how to pay for expanding health insurance for an estimated 50 million uninsured Americans, a cost that could range to some $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
You can’t raise that from beer money alone.
Lawmakers are looking at an extensive list of spending cuts and tax increases, including a new levy on the value of job-based health insurance.
No decisions will be made Wednesday, but Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., will use the feedback to shape legislation he intends to introduce in the next few weeks.
While many of the revenue raisers involve obscure provisions of federal law, most consumers can relate to a beer tax.
Taxes on wine and hard liquor would also go up.
And there might be a new tax on soda and other sugary drinks blamed for contributing to obesity. Diet drinks, however, wouldn’t be taxed.
The idea behind the proposed increases is to tax lifestyle choices that contribute to rising medical costs. Alcohol abuse is a risk factor in several types of cancer, liver disease and psychological problems.
Under the proposal, beer taxes would go up by 48 cents a six-pack, from the current 33 cents.
Wine taxes would rise by 49 cents per bottle, from the current 21 cents.
And the tax on hard liquor would increase by 40 cents per fifth, from the current $2.14.
Percentage-wise, wine drinkers would take the biggest hit, a 233 percent tax increase per bottle.
Hard liquor would see the smallest proportional increase, 19 percent per fifth.
The beer tax would rise by 145 percent per six-pack.

and then there is this, a possible 2.6 cents a six-pack increase to help fund Illinois' proposed capital projects program. Lawmakers could begin to move the bill today. We'll see what it includes ...

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/1577309,CST-NWS-tax17.article