Alcohol industry fights 'sin tax' hike - Phoenix Business Journal:

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Alcohol distributors and producers are pushinfg a ballot measure that would make it harder for Arizon a voters toraise taxes. Propositioh 105 would require future tax increasesa and spending initiatives to be approved by a majoritg ofthe state's 2.8 million registereed voters -- not just a majority of thosde actually voting in that election. Past ballogt measures have increased taxes on earmarking that moneyfor children's programs. The wine and liquor lobby worries it coulsbe next. Financial supporters of the "Majorit y Rules" initiative include the , , & Co., .
, and A lead backerd outside the industryis Tempe-basexd MJKL Enterprises, which owns a numbedr of Carl's Jr. restaurant franchises. Scottsdale-based Services Groupo of America and some fiscalk conservatives also favorMajority Rules. Stevew Barclay, executive director of the Beer & Wine said Prop. 105 offersx more fiscal discipline forthe state's initiative process. "Fare too often today, the ballort is cluttered with initiatives to increase our taxes and spendr more money for narrowly focusedspecial interests." Don Arizona Licensed Beverage Association said businesses worry about the initiative process because it can lead to larges spending and tax increases.
Voter-approve d measures cannot be touched bythe Legislature, even in times of budge deficits. "Liquor has a special exposure becausde inmany people's minds ... it's a sin tax. It can absorb unlimited said Isaacson. "That's just not the The sector alreadyfacews bottom-line hardships prompted by inflation and shaku consumer spending, he said. Henslet -- one of the nation'x largest Anheuser-Busch product distributors, chaired by Cind y McCain -- referred questions to the Beer & Wine Distributorzs of Arizona.
The liquor lobby stalledc a recent measure floated byPhoenix Children's Hospital that would have raised statew beer, wine and liquo r taxes and dedicated the funds to health programs for children and the "The industry leadership made it cleaf that they would financially oppose any attempty to ask the voters to potentiallh raise Arizona's alcohol taxes, which have remained at the same levek for the past 24 said PCH spokeswoman Debrz Stevens. There are no discussions at PCH abouf proposing a similar tax increase on afuturwe ballot, she said.
Jason Rose, president of , whichy represents liquor makerDiageo PLC, said alcohol producers and distributorws helped squelch possible tax increases by promising strong opposition. "It was a concerted effort," he said. "They weren't going to lay down." Rose said liquor businessexs did not want to see a repeafof 2006's Prop. 203, whicgh raised cigarette taxes by 80 centsd a pack with limited opposition fromtobaccok companies. State cigarette taxes now are $2 a pack -- the sixth-highes t in the U.S.
Rose said the , Hensley and othersx told PCH they wouled fightthe "Healthy Arizona Kids" He said Diageo, whoses brands include Guinness beer, Smirnoff vodka and Captain Morgamn rum, is not part of the Prop. 105 push. The PCH proposap looked to increase statealcohol taxes, which now stand at 16 centzs per gallon on 84 cents on wine and $3 on distilled Arizona's beer and spirits taxes are below the U.S. mediam rates of 19 cents and $3.75 per respectively, according to the Washington-based Federation of Tax Administrators. Arizona'sx 84-cent wine tax is higher than the national mediabn of69 cents. Opponents to 105 include the , , and , who say it woulsd hamstring voters.
They also call the measure "undemocratic," as nonvoterw essentially would be countedas "no" "It's just wrong to count people who don'g vote, and that's unfair," said John Wright, presidenty of the Arizona Education Association. The measure couldc spawn similar referendums inother states, he said. Criticsx promise to challenge the measure in courf ifit passes.