Beer tax plan gains formal sanction
By BRAD CAIN - Associated Press
Friday, June 8, 2007 1:51 PM PDT
SALEM — Several lawmakers formally pitched a nickel-a-bottle increase in Oregon’s beer tax Thursday to help pay for more Oregon State Police troopers, but the idea seemed to go flat almost immediately.
At a news conference, the lawmakers said the Legislature’s recent approval of a budget allowing the Oregon State Police to hire 100 more troopers to patrol roads and freeways was a step in the right direction.
But they said that is 39 troopers short of what’s needed to restore around-the-clock coverage on the state’s major highways, and far below trooper numbers of the early 1980s.
‘‘We’re in a crisis in this state, and it’s getting worse,’’ Sen. Rod Monroe, D-Portland, said at a news conference with Rep. Sal Esquivel, R-Medford, and Sen. Rick Metsger, D-Welches.
To create a permanent, dedicated source of money to put more troopers out on the roads, the three lawmakers proposed the nickel-a-bottle beer tax increase. Esquivel said it would reverse the ‘‘bipartisan erosion of this organization’’ over the years.
However, the idea met with opposition from House Minority Leader Wayne Scott, whose caucus would have to provide at least some Republican votes. Approval would require at least 36 of the 60 House members, and the majority Democrats number just 31. Scott said House Republicans are opposing tax increases in general, even if it’s for a good cause like putting more troopers on the road.
‘‘It’s a regressive tax. It puts the burden on the wrong people,’’ the Canby lawmaker said, adding that he worries the increase might hurt Oregon’s microwbrew beer industry as well.
On the Democratic side, House Speaker Jeff Merkley said on Wednesday that while there might be an argument for using a beer tax increase to help pay for increased patrols, it’s not an issue that’s at the top of the agenda as the 2007 Legislature enters its final weeks.
‘‘I think there’s a lot more conversations about a tobacco tax increase,’’ Merkley said, referring to the behind-the-scenes talks about boosting cigarette taxes to pay for children’s health insurance.
Esquivel said the state needs to act now to protect public safety by creating a permanent funding source for state police. The Medford lawmaker said he wasn’t fazed by Scott’s comment that his fellow House Republicans won’t support a beer tax hike.
‘‘What’s popular isn’t always right,’’ he said.
The proposal by Esquivel and the others would put 70 percent of the revenue into a special fund that could be tapped only to pay for Oregon State Police. The rest would go to cities and counties, which could use it for public safety, or alcohol and drug treatment programs.
A spokeswoman for Kulongoski, Anna Richter Taylor, said the governor believes lawmakers need to come up with a permanent, dedicated funding source for state police, so the agency doesn’t have to compete with other interests in budget deliberations.
Richter Taylor said while the governor is glad to see efforts to find a dedicated funding source for state police, the beer tax proposal advanced by the lawmakers is lacking because ‘‘it doesn’t specifically dedicate money to alcohol and drug treatment.’’
Monroe said lawmakers need to raise the beer tax this session, because the 100 new trooper positions recently approved by the Legislature could be at risk in future tough times.
‘‘Once the economy goes down again, the state police will end up losing,’’ the Portland senator said.
