NPR

Health Experts Worry Brewer Tax Cuts May Increase Costs To Nondrinkers

Supporters of a tax cut for beer brewers say it will boost jobs. But critics say it will reduce tax revenues that offset the costs of excessive drinking, related to health problems and drunk driving.
A fridge holds Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser and Grupo Modelo's Corona Light beers. Lawmakers are touting craft breweries as the winners from the tax cuts, but public health officials are concerned about lost tax revenues and rising public costs.

In this new year, beer brewers are enjoying a temporary excise tax break that was signed into federal law as 2017 was winding down.

But now public health experts are saying the temporary cut could come with a big cost over the next two years. That's because the 2018-19 tax reduction will decrease government revenue by $4.2 billion, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation — slicing into funds available to offset the public costs of excessive alcohol consumption. Those

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