Here’s a draft of an email that I will be sending to all three of my District 32 members of the Maryland House of Delegates as well as my State Senator this week:

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Dear Delegate/Senator _________:

I urge you to oppose House Bill 832 and its companion Senate Bill 717 entitled “The Lorraine Sheehan Health and Community Services Act of 2010.”

The proposed very large tax increases on beer, wine, and spirits in the State of Maryland are extremely onerous, unfair and a very short-sighted huge burden on the entire hospitality industry in our state as well as on the local retail distributors. In the case of beer, the proposed increase from 9 cents/gallon to $1.16/gallon is a whopping twelve-fold increase. The proposed tax increases on wine and spirits are similarly draconian.

We are all very painfully aware every day that these are very, very difficult economic times. Many of us also realize that these are similarly difficult economic times for our state and the budget that you – our elected legislators – are trying to put together responsibly.

The “sin taxes” (on those old, reliable standbys beer, wine, liquor, and tobacco) have almost always been a favorite target of the less creative, thoughtful, and responsible politicians. Dare I say lazy and unimaginative? Yes, I do. Such simple and easy “targets” are not the answer to Maryland’s economic woes. You all know that. The damage that such tax increases would do to the huge hospitality and retail liquor industries, the jobs, and in turn the whole of the Maryland economy would be appalingly destructive – especially in these times when many in the industries are in “frail” economic straits already.

The easy and simplistic “sin tax” increases are not the way to go – especially not now.

Thus, I urge you and your colleagues from District 32 and throughout the House of Delegates and the State Senate to vote against these two companion bills.

I appreciate your attention to this issue on behalf of myself and all your constituents.

Sincerely,

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We went through this the last two years with the proposed 300%+ “S-CHIP” tax increase on cigars and cigarettes. As I point out in the email/letter: The “sin taxes” have always been the first easy target for basically lazy, inept, and irresponsible politicians. We – and they – can and must do better than that.

Cheers, mate!
WordsMyth