Salem's Drinking Problem

Early this year, as state lawmakers frantically tried to patch an ever-widening budget hole, it looked like a no-brainer to raise Oregon's beer and wine tax--which, at less than a penny per 12-ounce bottle, is currently among the lowest in the country.

So why didn't it happen?

"The Legislature was a bit cowardly and irresponsible," says Nina Robart, head of the Oregon Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking.

Lawmakers "won't even touch" a beer and wine tax, says Tom Towslee, a spokesman for Gov. John Kitzhaber. "You know why? One lobbyist: Paul Romain."

Once upon a time, Romain was an assistant attorney general whose probe of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission gave him an encyclopedic knowledge of the booze business. Today he serves as a lobbyist--for the beer and wine industry.

Romain laughs at the talk of his Rasputin-like powers of influence. "All they do is feed people's egos with statements like that," he chuckles.

An industry-wide tax would hurt Oregon's home-grown microbrewers and vineyards, Romain says, but exempting local producers is unfair--and possibly unconstitutional.

If the Legislature tries to raise the tax, Romain vows to force the issue onto the ballot--where he predicts certain defeat.

Robart cites polls to the contrary and points out that hiking the tax to a nickel per bottle would raise $35 million a year--nothing to sneeze at. What kept it from happening, she said, is the industry's clout. Beer, wine and alcohol interests lavished almost $1.3 million on lobbying and campaign contributions to state lawmakers between 1999 and 2001, according to Janice Thompson of the Money in Politics Research Action Project, and the industry seems to have jacked up its giving in response to the talk of taxation.

One democratic lawmaker told WW, "Pissing off the lobbyists in that industry just wasn't worth the fight. Republicans didn't want to piss off key fundraisers."

Legislators may also have been tempted by the prospect of poolside margaritas. In the past, Romain has laid out thousands of dollars so legislators' spouses could attend conferences with them in California and Hawaii.

The beer-and-wine tax is not dead yet, however. The state's budget hole is expected to grow by at least $82 million when new forecasts emerge next month, which could again tempt weary lawmakers to seek refuge in the bottle.

WWeek 2015