Today the U.S. Congress is expected to vote on and approve a federal COVID-19 relief bill that will include some of the language from the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA). The year-end federal funding package is yet to be released, but legislative text that will make existing federal excise tax rates for small and independent breweries permanent is expected.

More from a press release  

“The  Brewers Association  expresses our gratitude to the 116th Congress, especially our legislative champions in the House and Senate—Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI) and Mike Kelly (R-PA), Chairman Richie Neal (D-MA), and Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Roy Blunt (R-MO), and Rob Portman (R-OH)—and our allies in Congress on both sides of the aisle for including the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act in this must-pass legislation,” said Bob Pease, president and CEO of the Brewers Association, which has led the fight to extend current federal excise tax rates.

“For the past several decades, America’s craft brewing industry has been growing tremendously and adding thousands of jobs across the country. Like other small businesses, many small breweries, brewpubs and taprooms have been devastated by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Pease said. “This legislation and programs like the Paycheck Protection Program are vital lifelines to help small brewers weather this unprecedented health and economic challenge. We strongly believe that America’s small-brewing industry can return to its incredible growth and vitality, but we need to get through these immediate challenges. This bipartisan legislation will help our members do so, and we deeply appreciate Congress recognizing this.”

With the assistance of its members in every congressional district in America, the Brewers Association has become the most formidable advocate in the alcohol beverage industry in Washington, D.C. In this Congress, for example, bipartisan legislation to make the federal excise tax rates permanent is supported by 77 members of the Senate and 351 members of the House.  

The CBMTRA has been a key issue for the Brewers Association, which has lobbied for an excise tax recalibration since 2009. By including the CBMTRA language,  congressional leaders acknowledged the profound impact the reduced excise tax rate has had on the growth and trajectory of a uniquely American entrepreneurial success story, recognizing that  allowing the lower rates to expire would be extremely detrimental to the 8,300 small breweries, brewpubs, and taprooms across the country. Prior to COVID’s initial outbreak in the U.S. back in March, craft breweries employed more than 160,000 workers at their breweries alone and including related industry roles, the total impact was 580,000 jobs. Craft brewing’s economic impact surpassed $82 billion in 2019 and more than 25,000 jobs were created by craft breweries in 2018 and 2019.

Read more at source: newschoolbeer

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