I love that Oregon doesn’t have sales tax and hated those years I was a student in Washington State and had to pay theirs. But I’ve always thought “sin taxes” were just fine because they don’t apply to me; I don’t smoke (and abhor it) and drink very little.
I haven’t done the research to know if sin taxes have a dramatic effect on purchases of said sin, but my guess is that the tax increases of a few coins every once in a while probably don’t keep many people from smoking and drinking. Of course, that doesn’t really seem to be the point (to discourage sinners into righteousness). But some Oregon lawmakers recently proposed a tax increase of 1900% on barrels of beer. The funds would go toward rehabilitation programs—a worthy cause, yes. But 1900% seems excessive, even to me. I wouldn’t be surprised if Adventists and Mormons were behind this one.
KGW story
Oregonian story
Proposed bill
Smallish breweries are concerned that this new tax could put them out of business, and pretty much all the breweries say they’ll be passing this cost increase onto the consumer. It’s not going to affect me—I’m not so much a beer-disliker as I am a beer-loather—but Portland’s kinda proud of its microbreweries and this could disable a lot of them. This just doesn’t seem like a great idea.
I don’t have a better alternative to propose; honestly, I’m just being pigheaded. But how ‘bout a saturated fat tax? YES! Tax Twinkies and donuts and corn dogs! Or maybe put those holier-than-thou tofu eaters to task. Tax Brussels sprouts! Wheat germ! Prunes! Vitamins that pass through your system whole!
Any thoughts from you beer drinkers out there?
I am definitely not a beer drinker but this does seem ridiculous to me. That just seems like a HUGE increase.
ReplyDeletePerhaps a bit more information can bring clarity to this issue. Oregon's current tax on beer is about 1/2 a cent on a 12 oz. glass or bottle. So, expressed as a percentage, the increase sounds enormous. The reality, however, is a few cents increase per glass. 9.5 cents, in fact.
ReplyDeleteSo paying an additional 57 cents per six pack is what we're dealing with. Personally, it's not going to lessen my beer intake in the least.
Much of the opposition to this is from organizations who are philosophically opposed to increase any tax, for whatever reason. No one likes taxes, but the idea that breweries are going to go out of business is a red herring. People will complain, but their beer intake isn't going to go down significantly, if at all.
And, wrapping this up, Oregon has generally been in an anti-tax mindset for the past couple decades. It's given us failing infrastructure, a compromised educational system, cuts to public safety, massive holes in the safety net, people living on the streets when they should be getting mental health care, and so on. If we can make some headway on improving any of those things, I'm happy to pay an extra dime for a beer. Glad to know I'm getting smashed for a worthy cause! :)
PS: Uhh, we're f**ked anyway...
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Thanks for your input, Dan. I guess the $$ has to come from somewhere. So when they advertise for Oregon Lottery and all the good it does but remind us it's "not for investment purposes," will they start doing that with beer ads? "Drink all you want! Your smashedness pays for good things!" :)
ReplyDeleteI talked to a guy who owns a microbrewery in southern Oregon. He said that beer sells no matter what the economy is doing. I think that since the state is losing taxes from businesses who have lost money in their business, maybe we'll see an increase in taxes to businesses that are doing well.My mom told me that a certain grandfather of ours who will remain anonymous, and his wife made illegal beer during prohibition, and sold it to the big shots in Medford. When that certain wife was in the hospital having her knees replaced, she said to me,(in front of her church lady friends!)"did I ever tell you about the time D___and I made moonshine?"Aren't you glad that I'm old enough to remember the dirt, so I can pass it on?
ReplyDeleteDeanna, I had no idea our grandparents were such rebels! If you remember any other tidbits about their unlawful behavior, please share. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not so sure that I or you want me to share some of it with everyone here. Maybe another time?
ReplyDeletePS: Uhh, we're f**ked anyway...
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/cjquab
I am definitely not a beer drinker but this does seem ridiculous to me. That just seems like a HUGE increase.
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