Big Beer Tax Proposed in CA

California Assemblyman Jim Beall (D, San Jose) has a proposal to essentially kill the beer industry and drive people to hard liquor by raising the state beer excise tax by an unprecedented $7.20 a case. The current tax is 48 cents per case.Beall claims the tax would generate $2 billion a year to fund health care services, crime prevention and programs to prevent underage drinking and addiction, though that assumes that consumption will remain the same after the tax hike.