Alcohol tax: Small consequences, big opposition (A penny)

[The Straight Story]

Alcohol tax: Small consequences, big opposition

INDIANAPOLIS - It was only a penny.

The tax on a bottle of beer would have gone up just one cent under a legislative proposal to double statewide alcohol taxes to help bail out an agency that runs Indianapolis' stadiums. But the tax hike with small consequences for many drew such big opposition that the plan's sponsor said he'll likely drop the idea.

Some lawmakers don't support any tax increases. Others don't want to tax "Joe Six-pack" in the middle of a recession. And some don't want people in all corners of the state paying to rescue the cash-strapped Indianapolis Capital Improvement Board, which runs the city's professional sports stadiums.

Senate Minority Leader Vi Simpson, D-Bloomington, said lawmakers understand how critical the economic health of Indianapolis is to the state. Marion County brought in 16 percent of the state's sales tax revenue in 2007, according to the Indiana Department of Revenue, and city leaders say downtown's economic engine is too important to stop firing.

But the alcohol tax still proved to be a tough sell.

"It is very difficult to go home to Princeton or to Bloomington or to Newton County and try to explain to people why we all have to have taxes increased in order to bail out the CIB," Simpson

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-in-xgr-alcoholtax,0,5945507.storysaid.

[monmouth]

1. Yeah, let's super-tax those cigarette smokers, they're so dangerous

on the road after a few smokes....

[Dr.Phool]

2. They tried to put a penny a can/bottle tax on soft drinks in Ohio a few years ago.

With all the wailing and gnashing of teeth, you would have thought it was the end of the world.

Didn't pass.