Press Release:

(Nashville, TN) – The House Local Subcommittee today approved a reform proposal that would slow the growth of Tennessee’s highest-in-the-nation beer tax.

By a 7-1 vote, the committee advanced legislation that will change Tennessee’s 1950s era price-based wholesale tax on beer to a volume-based calculation. Current policy has led Tennessee to have the nation’s highest effective beer rate, 12 percent higher than No. 2 Alaska.

The rate will rise higher and higher every year – a fact that led Rep. Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) and Sen. Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) to sponsor the Beer Tax Reform Act of 2013.

“Today was an important step towards reforming a tax that is working against Tennessee,” said Sexton. “The current tax rate is punishing businesses by hindering their growth and making it hard to do business in this state. The subject may be beer, but the issue is an outdated tax structure.”

Next up for the Beer Tax Reform Act of 2013 are Senate and House committee votes the week of March 18.

A coalition of statewide supporters has emerged to back the reform proposal. The group includes the state’s large distributors, crafter brewers and consumers. The group has held large rallies in Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Tri-Cities, with over 1,000 Tennesseans turning out.

“It’s time to fix the beer tax to reflect the modern marketplace, which includes growth of craft brewers, to encourage rather than discourage economic investment, and to have a pro-growth policy for businesses like mine,” said Linus Hall, President of the Craft Brewers Guild and Owner of Yazoo Brewery in Nashville.

The campaign is on the Web at www.fixthebeertax.com; on Facebook at www.facebook/fixthebeertax; and on Twitter at @fixthebeertax.