Lawmaker renews call to raise tax on alcoholic beverages

‘‘If we’re really serious about short-circuiting the cycle of violence in our communities that typically shows up in our emergency rooms, in our unemployment lines and in our criminal justice system, then we have to invest more up-front to ending this scourge that affects all of our communities,” said Bronrott (D-Dist. 16) of Bethesda.

Bronrott renewed his call after Gov. Martin O’Malley vetoed a bill last week that would have made nonviolent twice-convicted drug offenders eligible for parole after serving two-and-a-half years of a mandatory 10-year sentence. The bill’s sponsor, Del. Curtis S. Anderson (D-Baltimore city), said O’Malley (D) committed to putting more money toward substance abuse treatment programs in future budgets.

‘‘Maryland has a huge unmet need in the area of drug and alcohol treatment today, so whether or not the governor had signed that bill into law, we are desperate for more resources to have more community-based treatment prevention and programs,” Bronrott said.

The excise tax is levied at the wholesale level, but is often passed on to consumers.

Maryland’s $1.50 per-gallon tax on distilled spirits is the lowest in the nation, according to the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax research group in Washington. The state’s 9 cents per gallon beer tax is tied for eighth lowest in the nation, and the 40 cents per gallon wine tax is also in the bottom.

That’s equivalent to 2 cents on both a shot of liquor and a glass of wine and a penny on a 12-ounce can of beer, said Bronrott, who sponsored a bill this year that would have doubled all three tax rates. His bill did not receive a vote. More extreme measures in previous years have also sputtered.

The tax on hard liquor has not been increased since 1955, and the taxes on beer and wine have remained constant since 1972.

‘‘I think a nickel tax is completely appropriate, particularly when the proceeds from the revenue is being earmarked to combat impaired driving and to rehabilitate,” said Caroline Cash, executive director for the Chesapeake chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which includes Maryland and Delaware.

But Bruce C. Bereano, an Annapolis lobbyist who represents the Licensed Beverage Distributors of Maryland, said higher taxes will hurt Maryland businesses.

‘‘You increase the tax, and everybody’s going to go to the District to buy their friendly drinks,” he said.