MetroWest Daily News:
Every state that has a sales tax applies it to alcohol, and for good reason. Sales tax exemptions are appropriate for the necessities of life, like food, clothing and health care, but a six-pack of beer or a bottle of bourbon, however pleasurable, is not a necessity. Why give the liquor industry a tax break?Why should statewide policies be twisted to boost the bottom lines of a couple of dozen liquor stores that happen to be located within 10 miles of New Hampshire.
Those package store owners may get our sympathy, but they shouldn’t get a tax break that isn’t necessary, isn’t deserved and that Massachusetts cannot afford.
New Bedford Standard-Times:
The Standard-Times supported the [alcohol] tax for its ability to make a positive impact on public health and because excise taxes on alcohol have not kept pace with inflation. The excise on beer, for example, is worth just 27 percent of its value in 1975, costing the state $200 million a year…
…[to cut the sales and alcohol tax] isn’t the fiscally conservative thing to do; it’s the uninformed thing to do.
Watertown Tab & Press:
Voting to remove the sales tax might be easier on consumers’ pocketbooks and provide some relief for those small businesses that sell alcoholic beverages, but the long-term health of the state and the needs of citizens struggling with addictions should trump when voters go to the polls.
Bourne Courier & Harwich Oracle:
The few cents we now pay on our alcoholic beverage purchases, since a 6.25 percent tax was added to these goods last year, amounts to enough money to pay for healthcare services for some 100,000 people who suffer from behavioral issues.
Check out the website: www.NoOn1MA.com
