Bipartisan beer tax bill now with majority support in Senate

After Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) signed on, he became the 51st member of the U.S. Senate to officially endorse the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (S. 236), which means a majority of members from both the House of Representatives and United States Senate support this legislation.

“Beer is bipartisan, and I want to thank the broad coalition of Senators and House members from across the country for supporting this common sense legislation that will provide critical tax relief to America’s brewers and beer importers,” said Jim McGreevy, president and CEO of the Beer Institute, which represents brewers, beer importers and supply industries.

Introduced by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) in January, the bipartisan legislation creates a fair and equitable tax structure for brewers, winemakers, distillers and importers of all beverage alcohol, which will allow them to continue to invest in their businesses and grow jobs across the country.

H.R. 747, identical legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representatives Erik Paulsen (R-MN) and Ron Kind (D-WI), has also garnered 281 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle.

“America’s small craft brewers are incredibly proud and appreciative of the strong bipartisan and bicameral support that we have received from the United States Congress,” said Bob Pease, president and CEO of the Brewers Association. “We are small Main Street manufacturers located in virtually every Congressional District in the country, and employing more than 130,000 Americans. We truly are an American success story built on the passion that our small brewers have for their craft and their communities. Members of Congress see that passion, determination and success and want to foster it. That is why more than half the United States Congress has co-sponsored the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act. We are hopeful that this consensus legislation can be enacted this year.”

If only there was a way for that bill to become a law.