Alcohol sales tax gains Senate approval
A plan to raise the sales tax on alcohol from 6 to 9 percent over the next three years won final Senate passage Wednesday.
The extra sales tax, which would be added by 1 percentage point per year, is expected to raise about $30 million next year and $85 million once fully implemented. The House of Delegates has not yet considered the proposal, which emerged late in the session.
Several senators spoke before casting their votes; the bill passed 27-19.
Democratic Sen. Jim Mathias said he would vote against the tax because said he believed it would hurt the tourism, restaurant and bar industries that he said are vital to the Eastern Shore.
Sen. Richard Colburn said the tax defies "Economics 101."
"Never, ever pass a tax increase during a recession," the Eastern Shore Republican said.
Other legislators objected to the Senate's plan to divide up alcohol sales revenue in the first year: $5 million would assist people with developmental disabilities, $8.8 million would flow to Prince George's County, and Baltimore City would receive $12.2 million.
Sen. David Brinkley, a Frederick County Republican, said that because all alcohol consumers would pay an extra price, the money should go to the state's general fund, not to "two political jurisdictions."
Sen. Verna Jones-Rodwell, a Baltimore Democrat who sponsored the legislation, defended the one-year plan as necessary "to back-fill some of the deep cuts that have been made."
Because Prince George's County has grown relatively wealthier, state aid has dropped, something the alcohol tax money would help assuage. Baltimore would use the money to pay for increasing costs of retired teachers' health care.
Comments
Why does it never occur to the politicos that just because you can tax something doesn't mean that you should? The key is to cut spending and give the people who hold jobs and pay taxes a break. Cut dead wood programs that pay individuals in two regions of Maryland to remain wards of the state and give the workers a breather.
Posted by: David Wayson | March 30, 2011 4:14 PM
I can not support raising taxes based that are based on a percentage of the price of goods...doesn't inflation raise those taxes on an ongoing basis???
Not to mention, as a Baltimore City resident, booze helps ease the pain caused by all the other taxed I pay.
Posted by: M Riesner | March 30, 2011 4:30 PM
Wait...let me understand something. Prince George's County has become relatively wealthier, thereby not needing as much State aid, so we are going to give them State aid via an alcohol tax (which disproportionately impacts lower income brackets, by the way)? Did I just fall into the rabbit hole from Alice in Wonderland?
And Baltimore City teachers get a big cut of the alcohol tax which we are all paying, yet I bet an overwhelming majority of us did not attend Baltimore City schools, nor live in Baltimore City?
Beautiful. Didn't I just read something about a boom in York County population from MD? Wonder why....
Posted by: Wes Fisher | March 30, 2011 4:35 PM
Tax, tax, ttttax, ttttax, ttttax, tax tax ttttax, tax taxxx, tax tax ttt....tax. never met a Demorat who didn't like a ttttt tax. Tax me, oh please tax me more Maryland, oh please, I love to pay more taxes. I simply cannot stand all this additional cash in my pocket, so please tax me more so in state tuition can be given to illegal aliens from other countries. Please, oh GOD please tax me more to pay for more abortions.
In 2 years I will be gone from this God forsaken hell hole of a state!!!
Posted by: bk | March 30, 2011 4:48 PM
Let see. The additional tax, going to Baltimore, is to pay ffor retired teachers health care! Didn't we hear something similar coming out of Wisconsin? Guess the unions will be here pickiting Annapolis to forcee approval of this additional tax. Ain't life wonderful?
Posted by: Chuck Slomski | March 31, 2011 8:02 AM
Why does the whole state have ot pay for the corruption and excesses in PG County & Baltimore City? PG County & Balto. City should do what everyone else has already done - CUT BACK!! If they need additional tax to survive then PG County and Balto. City should raise their own taxes and leave the rest of the state alone. PG County could get rid of their illegals and Balto. could jail their crooked politicians.
Posted by: JoeB | March 31, 2011 8:07 AM
I wonder, just for fun, if we can stop to think about what has just happened. Maryland now has two Sales tax rates for items.
Can someone who has any knowledge of cash registers tell us how in the world a two tier tax rate can be implemented on a cash register platform, l say by July ?
This is going to cause undue burden on store owners, especially the small ones that don't use a PC oriented pos system.
Remember that your beer and wine store sells more than just beer,wine,and liquor.
Posted by: befuddled | March 31, 2011 12:12 PM