Illinois brewers fighting proposed tax increase

Posted on May 24, 2019
Founder and CEO Matt Potts of Destihl Brewery in Normal joined other brewers in Springfield to oppose a proposed tax increase. (Dave Dahl/WJBC)

 

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – By next Memorial Day, that beer you’re sipping could be more expensive.

The brewers of Illinois are fighting a proposed 6 ½ cent per gallon increase which would help pay for Illinois’ proposed infrastructure program.

“We’ve actually grown enough in the last couple of years that were are eyeing expansion opportunities,” says Mike Allison, of Hand of Fate Brewing in Petersburg, near Springfield, said during a news conference Friday at the Capitol. “We are still a small business, and expansion is expensive. With the new policy decisions that are coming up, we are really going to have to look at this and decide if this is right for us to do.”

A tax on beer is not a sin tax, says Matt Potts of Destihl Brewery. “Illinois beer is not a sin; it should not be taxed like one.”

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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