Thanks to the tremendous support from ADI members and the distilling community as a whole, the LAST CALL Day of Action, hosted by the Distilled Spirits Council of the US (DISCUS) on Tuesday, December 1st, resulted in more than 39,000 letters sent to members of congress urging them stop the impending increase in federal excise taxes (FET) for spirits.
The Day of Action was aimed at mobilizing craft distillers and consumers to urge congress to pass the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA) into law. The CBMTRA, which became a temporary, two-year law in in 2018, and which later was given a one-year extension for 2020, would make permanent the reduction in the FET paid by distillers. The current extension is set to expire at the end of the year. Without passage of the CBMTRA, the FET owed by distillers would jump from $2.70 per proof gallon to $13.50 per proof gallon — a business-killing increase of 400%.
“Thank you to ADI and all of the state industry guilds and organizations that helped us drive more than 39,000 letters to congress this week, urging them to pass CBMTRA and #StopCraftTaxIncreases,” said Chris Swonger, President and CEO of DISCUS. “The CBMTRA Day of Action would not have been a success without your leadership. DISCUS is committed to working in lockstep with ADI to get this across the goal line before December 31.”
The CMBTRA, co-sponsored by senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rob Portman (R-OH) has enjoyed broad bipartisan support, with 77 senators and 351 members of the House of Representatives having endorsed the bill. On the same day as the Day of Action, senators Portman and Wyden, together with 55 of their senate colleagues, signed a letter urging Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to pass the CMBTRA before the end of the year. Read the full text of the letter here.
It’s not too late to get involved and take action. Contact your representatives and express how urgent passage of the CMBTRA is to the craft spirits industry. You can look up contact information for you congressional representatives here, or sign on and send the DISCUS Last Call letter here.
