Foaming Over Beer Taxes : Lobbying Group Says Lawmakers Seek Scapegoat

By SUSAN CHRISTIAN

July 29, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

COSTA MESA —

Read their lips: no new taxes on beer.

Beer Drinkers of America, a lobbying group financed largely by big breweries, says the popular beverage has become a whipping boy for all that ales us. If federal and state excise taxes get any higher, the time-honored pleasure of quaffing a cold one could become oppressively expensive, the organization complains.

“We rally beer consumers behind a common purpose: to battle the punitive laws targeting beer,” said Bill Schreiber, president of the association. “Although the vast majority of beer drinkers never cause any problems for themselves or anyone else, we’re getting hammered at by politicians looking for a scapegoat. It trivializes the problem of drunk driving.”

The group claims 700,000 members, many of them average Joes and Josephines recruited through mailing lists bought from magazines that sell their subscribers’ names. For a $10 initiation fee and $5 annual dues, members receive a quarterly publication called Heads Up--which imparts information about the latest attacks on their beloved beverage, as well as lighter fare such as brew-it-yourself recipes.

But the bulk of the association’s money comes from beer makers, wholesalers and retailers. “We financially support Beer Drinkers because it serves as a voice of reason for the more than 80 million responsible beer drinkers in the United States,” said Elizabeth Conlisk, spokeswoman for Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing Co.

She would not specify the amount of money that Miller donates to the nonprofit organization, which is based in Costa Mesa.

“The majority of beer drinkers have household incomes of under $40,000 a year,” Conlisk said. “An excise tax is a regressive tax. Regardless of whether you make $200,000 or $20,000, you pay the same tax, so proportionately, middle-income people end up paying more.”

The federal tax on a six-pack of beer is now 33 cents. With California’s additional tax of 12 cents, consumers here fork out a total of 45 cents in excise taxes--and then pay sales tax on top of that. In some states, however, including Alabama, Georgia and Hawaii, the excise tax is nearly double California’s.

“Beer, a perfectly legal product, is taxed three times more than soft drinks,” Schreiber said.

There are fires to put out at every corner--Congress here, a state legislature there. In 1990, for instance, California’s ballot offered a proposition that would have increased the state tax on alcohol by 1,325%. Thanks in part to Beer Drinkers’ lobbying efforts and letter-writing drive, voters “thrashed” the proposal, Schreiber noted proudly.

With so many battles to fight, he and his partner--Beer Drinkers vice president Lois Wood Adams--spend little time sitting around their 16-employee office. When they’re not in Washington arguing for lower federal taxes, they’re in one state capital or another railing against some new bill that would raise alcohol taxes.

“We’re on the road 150 days out of the year,” Adams said. “Our spouses love us for it.”

Beer Drinkers was founded by a small group in New Mexico in 1987 when their state Legislature attempted to raise taxes on beer. Public relations man Robert Nelson, chairman and chief executive officer of Nelson Communications in Costa Mesa, became involved and later that year relocated the organization’s headquarters close to home. Since then, Beer Drinkers has established outposts in 36 states.

Adams admits that her title elicits snickers. “You can imagine what it’s like to hand someone a business card that says ‘Beer Drinkers of America,’ ” she said. “We get a lot of chuckles and comments like, ‘Gee, tough job.’ But once people figure out what we do, they take us seriously.”

Aside from tax legislation, Beer Drinkers tries to fend off other laws that the organization deems unfair. Congressional bills periodically pop up that would impose such caveats as oral warnings in alcohol commercials about the hazards of drinking.

“That would be counter-advertising,” Schreiber said. “Beer makers say, ‘Why should we spend millions of dollars on air time to tell people why they shouldn’t drink?’ ”

Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the 12-year-old organization responsible for much of today’s heightened awareness about the dangers of driving while intoxicated, supported federal legislation last year that would have mandated warning labels on alcoholic beverages. But the group does not take an official stand on the taxation of alcohol, said Janet Cater, executive director of MADD’s Orange County Chapter.

However, Cater added: “Studies show that current taxation does not cover the cost to society for the overuse of alcohol.”

Of course, Beer Drinkers is vulnerable to the criticism that it condones irresponsible drinking. To counter that unsavory image, in 1990 it created Party Smart, a goodwill program that sets up booths at professional football and baseball games to promote the use of designated drivers.

A few bad beer drinkers should not spoil everyone’s fun, Schreiber said. After all, beer-sipping is a centuries-old tradition in America that should not be viewed as a sin.

At a Glance: Beer Drinkers of America

* Headquarters: Costa Mesa

* Founded: 1987

* Officers:

Honorary chairman: Don Sutton

President: Bill Schreiber

National Education Director: Nancy Olenick

* Nature of business: Nonprofit organization open to people 21 or older; advocates the freedom to drink responsibly without excessive governmental regulation or unfair taxation; provides members with information about beer; sponsors a public education program emphasizing moderation among adults who choose to drink

* Membership: 700,000 in 36 states

* Fees: $10 to join, $5 yearly renewal; members receive the quarterly magazine Heads Up and newsletters updating members about current legislation.

Suds Situation

Beer Drinkers of America, a consumer group based in Costa Mesa, is complaining that higher federal and state excise taxes could make the simple pleasure of quaffing a cold one prohibitively expensive. California consumers now pay a total of 45 cents in excise tax for a six-pack--and that doesn’t include sales tax.

Beer Drinkers’ Profile

Statistically speaking, 94% are male, 70% are married, 81% own their own homes and 94% buy American beer most often. They are split about evenly between white- and blue-collar workers, those who have attended college and those who have not:

Occupation

White-collar: 40.2%

Blue-collar: 36.9%

Retired: 17.7%

Other: 5.2%

Politics

Democrat: 39%

Republican: 33%

Independent: 16%

Other: 12%

Education

High-school graduate: 50%