And this guy is not gonna be happy.
Here's the deal: the Washington State Legislature, which you might have thought was done plugging our $2.8 billion budget gap, is in fact not done and now wants to plug said gap with beer taxes, among other things, so as to avoid having to raise the state's overall sales tax by any significant amount.
Jeff Reading, spokesman for the beer-tax-proposing senate Democrats, said this new revenue stream would only affect breweries producing more than 60,000 barrels a year. Meaning, Reading said, "the only beer brewed in Washington that it would apply to is Redhook."
For consumers, the effect of the tax would be to raise the price of certain six packs by 28 cents.
Making it simple for Slog readers, Reading offered this handy guide:
PBR = taxed
Mirror Pond = not taxed
Keep in mind, it's still only a proposal. But with legislators in both chambers anxious to get a budget deal done soon, it could well be law in short order.
UPDATE: Slog commenter beats senate Democrats spokesman!
Noting the contributions of taint @ 17, Jeff Reading e-mails over an amended handy guide:
One of your commenters is right, and I'm wrong. I probably should have said:PBR = taxed
Mac n’ Jack’s = not taxed
