Political Quotes

“next week is American Craft Beer Week so I am pleased to rise today with my friend and colleague, the senior Senator from Maine, Senator Collins, to introduce the Small Brewer Reinvestment & Expanding Workforce Act of 2013, otherwise known as the Small BREW Act. Our esteemed former colleague, Senator Kerry, now Secretary of State, introduced this bill in the 112th Congress. I am honored to take up the mantel. The Small BREW Act of 2013 would reduce the excise tax on America's craft brewers. Under current federal law, brewers producing fewer than 2 million barrels annually pay $7 per barrel on the first 60,000 barrels they brew, and $18 per barrel on every barrel thereafter, one barrel = 31 gallons. The Small BREW Act would create a new excise tax rate structure that helps start-up and small breweries and reflects the evolution of the craft brewing industry. The rate for the smallest packaging breweries and brewpubs would be $3.50 per barrel on the first 60,000 barrels. For production between 60,001 and 2 million barrels, the rate would be $16.00 per barrel. Thereafter, the rate would be $18.00 per barrel. Breweries with an annual production of 6 million barrels or less would qualify for these recalibrated tax rates. The small brewer threshold and tax rate were established in 1976 and have never been updated. Since then, the annual production of the largest U.S. brewery has increased from 45 million barrels to 105 million barrels.…”