The lawmakers pictured above are State Reps Katie Henke, Harold Wright and Collin Walke. They are three of the eight Oklahoma lawmakers who voted "Yay" yesterday to send the HB 1686 to the House Appropriations and Budget Finance Subcommittee. If passed by the legislature and signed into law, the legislation would eliminate sales taxes on beer and alcohol sales, but dramatically increase excise taxes on the wholesale end, leading to substantially higher prices for your favorite beer, wine or cheap vodka.
Here's a bill summary from the Oklahoma house website:
I'm totally fine paying a sin tax on alcohol. It can be addictive, dangerous and usually leads to some sort of drunk text, tragic death or 2:00am visit to Taco Bell. As a result, it should be taxed more than other products.
That being said, this seems ridiculous. They seriously want to raise the tax on a barrel of beer from $12.50 to $45? Math gives me shakes and the beer shits, and even I know that's a bad deal. Every lobbyist in the state who works with or for the alcohol industry agrees with me.