Bill Text: HI HB1618 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Liquor.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-02-02 - The committee(s) on ECD recommend(s) that the measure be deferred. [HB1618 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2022-HB1618-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
1618 |
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THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to liquor.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that alcohol consumption contributes to hundreds of deaths each year in Hawaii. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there was an average of three hundred forty-eight alcohol attributable deaths per year in Hawaii between 2011 to 2015. Of those deaths, approximately ninety per cent were due to excessive alcohol use, which includes binge drinking, heavy drinking, and any drinking by pregnant women or people under the age of twenty-one. It is estimated that excessive alcohol use shortened the lives of those who died in Hawaii by an average of 27.2 years.
The legislature further finds that there are several short‑ and long-term health risks associated with excessive alcohol use; among these include motor vehicle accidents, injuries, or deaths; violence, sexual assault, and intimate partner violence; alcohol poisoning; risky sexual behaviors that can result in unintended pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases; and for pregnant women, miscarriage and stillbirth or fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Over time, excessive alcohol use can cause chronic diseases and other serious problems, including high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, digestive problems, certain types of cancer, a weakening of the immune system, learning and memory problems, mental health problems, social problems, and alcohol use disorders or alcohol dependence.
In addition to the individual health risks associated with excessive alcohol use, the legislature also finds that excessive alcohol use contributes to significant economic costs to the State, particularly relating to health care, lost productivity, and the criminal justice system. According to a 2010 study, the estimated total cost of excessive alcohol use in Hawaii was $937,400,000. Considering modern-day inflation, the present figure is likely much higher.
The legislature further finds that, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, alcohol taxes have perhaps the strongest and most consistent evidence base of any U.S. policy for reducing excessive drinking and related harms, and additional evidence strongly shows that higher alcohol taxes reduce alcohol-impaired driving and motor vehicle crash fatalities. The potential public health benefits of an alcohol tax increase could include less chronic disease and alcohol-related mental health diagnoses, fewer sexual assaults or cases of intimate partner violence, fewer arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol, fewer law enforcement or crisis line calls, and a reduction in youth binge drinking. Additionally, it is estimated the State would realize an additional $58,000,000 per year in tax revenue from a $0.10 per drink liquor tax increase, helping to further offset the considerable expenses incurred by the State due to alcohol-related issues.
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to establish a surcharge on the liquor tax.
SECTION 2. Section 244D-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§244D-4
Tax; limitations. (a)
Every person who sells or uses any liquor in the State not taxable under
this chapter, in respect of the transaction by which the person or the person's
vendor acquired the liquor, shall pay a gallonage tax that is hereby imposed at
the following rates for the various liquor categories defined in section 244D-1:
On July 1, 1998, and thereafter, the tax
rate shall be:
(1) $5.98
per wine gallon on distilled spirits;
(2) $2.12
per wine gallon on sparkling wine;
(3) $1.38
per wine gallon on still wine;
(4) $0.85
per wine gallon on cooler beverages;
(5) $0.93
per wine gallon on beer other than draft beer; and
(6) $0.54
per wine gallon on draft beer;
and
at a proportionate rate for any other quantity so sold or used.
(b) The tax levied pursuant to subsection (a)
shall be paid only once upon the same liquor; provided [further] that
the tax shall not apply to:
(1) Liquor held for sale by a permittee but not yet sold;
(2) Liquor sold by one permittee to another permittee;
(3) Liquor which under the Constitution and laws of the United States cannot be legally subjected to the tax imposed by this chapter so long as and to the extent to which the State is without power to impose the tax;
(4) Liquor sold for sacramental purposes or the
use of liquor for sacramental purposes, or any liquor imported pursuant to
section 281-33; or
(5) Alcohol sold pursuant to section 281-37 to a person holding a purchase permit or prescription therefor, or any sale or use of alcohol, so purchased, for other than beverage purposes.
(c) Beginning July 1, 2022, every person subject to the liquor tax shall pay a $0.10 per drink surcharge on the liquor tax imposed under subsection (a). The surcharge shall be based on 1.50 ounces of distilled spirits; five ounces of sparkling wine or still wine; and twelve ounces of cooler beverages, beer other than draft beer, or draft beer. The proceeds from the surcharge shall be deposited into the general fund."
SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2022.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Liquor Tax; Surcharge
Description:
Beginning July 1, 2022, establishes a $0.10 per drink surcharge in addition to the liquor tax.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
