Wisconsin heresy? Propose beer tax hike

Madison - Two Democratic legislators today vowed to try again to raise the $2-per-barrel beer tax, which has been unchanged for 38 years, despite a warning they are taking on a "sacred Wisconsin beverage."

"I am not predicting it's going to pass," Democratic Rep. Terese Berceau of Madison said of her proposal to boost the $2 tax to $10 per barrel to fight drunken driving and treat alcohol addiction. "I'm kind of fooling around with holy water here."

Her beer-tax increase would raise the tax on a six-pack from 3.6-cents to 18-cents. Overall, it would cost beer drinkers between $40 million and $48 million more a year, she said.

The Assembly leader of her own party has panned her proposal, however.

Senate President Fred Risser (D-Madison) defended the increase, noting it essentially was indexing the beer tax for inflation since its last hike 38 tears ago. In 1969, Risser voted to raise the tax from $1 per barrel to $2, and he said none of the predictions then that it would devastate the state's economy came true.

Wisconsin's $2-per-barrel tax is third lowest in the nation, behind the 59-cent levy in Wyoming and the $1.86 tax in Missouri, home of Budweiser. Legisaltors said the highest beer tax in the nation is $33.17 per barrel in Alaska.

Michael Miller, a Madison-area physician who heads the American Society of Addiction Medicine, said Wisconsin's history, culture and politics has treated beer like a "sacred Wisconsin beverage." Raising the tax is needed and overdue, Miller said.

Miller commended Berceau and Risser for "walking directly into the mouth of the lion," comparing their effort to trying to raise the tax on wine in California or the tax on bourbon in Kentucky.

Other groups calling for the increase included Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Mental Health Association of Wisconsin and the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.