They can have my beer
When pried from my cold dead hand.
Beer Tax fight? It’s on!

Written by Captain Hops.

References: Chris O’Brien over at the Beer Activist gave us all a heads up that Maryland State Senator Jennie Forehand has sponsored a bill to increase taxes on beer six-fold and on wine and liquor three-fold in the state of Maryland.

Ouch! Although it doesn’t look like she has any co-sponsors and the house hasn’t taken up any similar measures, we should all be vigilant. Find out the contact information of your MD elected officials and let them know how you feel about this ridiculous tax.

To be fair to Senator Forehand, it appears that she is trying to find a way to replace revenue that will be lost when they repeal the horrifically ill-conceived computer services tax. However, that revenue really should be offset by spending cuts, not by replacing one harmful and unfair tax with another.

If you live in Maryland, I highly recommend signing this petition and contacting your state legislators to repeal the Computer Services Sales Tax as well.

Of course, if the computer services sales tax is not repealed, I may very well move my family and my business (and my tax money) back to that beer oases – Portland, Oregon. And that is not a terrible outcome.

PS: If you want to volunteer for grass roots campaigns or keep track of Maryland legislative efforts that affect beer and wine you should sign up for email alerts from Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws. They haven’t said anything about this new attempt to over-tax alcohol yet, but I am sure they will let us know if it starts to gain traction.

Thing of the Day: The Campaign Manager: Running and Winning Local Elections (Third Edition)