The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence fights the stigma and the disease of alcoholism and other drug addictions.

NCADD Action Alert

Momentum Gains Behind Beer Wholesalers' Urge to Rollback Federal Excise Tax to Pre-1951 Levels

JULY 10, 2002

H.R. 1305 would roll back the federal beer excise tax to its pre-1951 level, and has been heavily lobbied by the National Beer Wholesalers Association for passage. Since 1951, the beer tax has been increased only once, in 1991. Since NCADD issued an Action Alert in May 2002, H.R. 1305 has continued to gain momentum in the House, and H.R. 1305 currently enjoys bipartisan support of 223 Members.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Members of Congress must hear about the negative effects of excessive alcohol consumption, and that decreasing the federal excise tax would only to add to that harm. This is especially urgent if your Representative has signed on to co-sponsor H.R. 1305 (Click here to view list of House cosponsors). Contact your Representative (Capitol Hill Switchboard is 202/224-3121 or look on the House website www.house.gov). Or you can generate an online letter to your Representative about this legislation at Join Together's Legislative Action Center. Unfortunately, despite well-researched statistics showing that a decrease in the cost of alcohol leads to an increase in consumption, especially among the underage population, this bill seems to be picking up momentum. If your Member has signed onto this legislation, urge them to withdraw support immediately because: Today, the beer tax amounts to $18 per 31-gallon barrel, or approximately 33 cents per six-pack. Had the tax kept up with inflation since 1951, the rate today would be more than $50 per barrel, or more than a dollar a six-pack. The industry is asking the U.S. Congress to reduce the federal excise tax on beer by 50 percent from its current level, to a proposed 15 cents per six-pack. Organizations opposing the bill include: National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) National Association of Governors’ Highway Safety Representatives (NAGHSR) The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) A national poll found that 77% of all Americans believe that a beer tax cut would benefit the beer industry more than consumers. When told that the average American who drinks beer consumes only about two beers a week, and pays around 11 cents per week in national beer tax, 86% of drinkers did not think this was too high a burden, even for moderate drinkers. Alcohol kills 6.5 times more young Americans than all other illicit drugs combined An estimated 1,400 college students (aged 18-24) die, 500,000 are injured, more than 70,000 are sexually assaulted and 400,000 engage in unprotected sex while under the influence of alcohol each year. Alcohol problems cost the United States more than $184 billion in 1998 in health care, criminal justice, social services, property damages, and loss of productivity expenses. Alcohol is a factor in as many as 105,000 deaths annually in the United States and a primary contributor to a wide array of health problems and human suffering. These include various cancers, liver disease, alcoholism, brain disorders, motor vehicle crashes, violence, crime, spousal and child abuse, drowning, and suicides. The fact is, the federal beer excise tax amounts to less than 7% of the average price of a six-pack. Additional information available on the NCADD website: Policy Statement on Excise Taxes. May 2002 Action Alert on H.R. 1305 Fact Sheet: Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Are America’s Number One Health Problem (released 6/02) Archived Material: September 1998 Action Alert illustrates previous attempt to reduce federal excise tax on beer.

National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc.

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