Victory: Alcohol tax/fee bill defeated

Bill AB 1019 by Assemblyman Jim Beall, which would have imposed a 10 cent alcohol fee increase, was defeated in Assembly Health Committee on April 21.

AB 1019 was originally a tax increase bill imposing a 10 cent alcohol excise tax. Because tax bills require a two-thirds vote, the author amended the bill to be a fee, which requires only a majority vote. Despite this, the author wasn’t able to get the necessary votes to pass in committee.

Special thanks to CRA Board Member Rocco Biale of Rocco’s Ristorante Pizzeria in Walnut Creek who served as the key witness in opposition of AB 1019 at the committee hearing. Biale gave compelling testimony of how the dime-a-drink increase would affect his restaurant and other similarly situated restaurants across this state. Among other good points, he highlighted that restaurateurs are already burdened with layers of costs and this would add another burden at the worst possible time.

AB 1019’s imposition of a dime-a-drink increase at the wholesaler or distributor level would have resulted in passed-on price increases to the retailer. The estimated increase of beer, wine and spirits to retailers would have been between 16 percent to 19 percent. Earlier this year, the CRA realized a victory regarding the same issue with the defeat of the governor’s proposal of a nickel-a-drink alcohol tax increase.

AB 1019 needed 10 votes to pass, but was only able to garner three out of 19 committee members. Seven members voted no and nine members abstained. Please take the time to thank the assembly members who voted no or abstained.

The vote record is as follows:

Voted no
Anthony Adams - R
Connie Conway - R
Bill Emmerson - R
Nathan Fletcher - R
Ted Gaines – R
Mary Hayashi - D
Audra Strickland - R
Abstained
Marty Block - D
Wilmer Amina Carter - D
Hector De La Torre - D
Isadore Hall – D
Ed Hernandez - D
Pedro Nava - D
V. Mauel Perez - D
Mary Salas – D
Dave Jones - D
Voted yes
Tom Ammiano – D
Kevin De Leon – D
Bonnie Lowenthal - D

For more information, contact Lara Diaz Dunbar at ldunbar@calrest.org.