It took some Annapolis deal making in order to get the new 3% alcohol tax passed at the tail end of this year’s legislative session, and charges are being levied that politics are being played with where those proceeds are being spent. [...more]
The Board of Public Works awarded $18 million in grants coming from the new 3% alcohol sales tax for school construction projects in Howard, Montgomery, and Anne Arundel counties. [...more]
Maryland’s restaurateurs, bar and tavern owners, liquor store operators and point-of-sale system programmers have spent the last couple of weeks scrambling to get ready to collect the state’s new 9% tax on alcohol, which goes into effect on Friday. [...more]
Many people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are being left behind or underserved by state and national governments – including thousands in Maryland, according to a new study released on Tuesday. [...more]
The House of Delegates and Senate Monday night passed a new 3% sales tax on alcohol sold in stores, bars and restaurants, with most of the proceeds in the first year going to schools and school construction. Gov. Martin O’Malley said Monday he will sign the two bills, which will go into effect July 1. [...more]
The Senate passed a new 3% sales tax surcharge on alcoholic beverages, bringing the total to 9% sales tax on beer, wine and spirits. The vote was 27 to 19, with eight Democrats joining 11 Republicans in opposing the measure. The bill now heads to the House of Delegates, which has not had a hearing on this version of the alcohol tax hike. However, two House leaders say the House is still likely to support it. [...more]
Maryland’s first alcohol tax increase in 39 years easily passed the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee in a 9-4 vote, putting an extra 3% sales tax on all purchases of beer, wine and liquor. The new tax will go up 1% a year for the next three years, raising an estimated $88 million by fiscal 2016, with some of the money going to public schools and services for developmental disabilities. [...more]
Advocates who have been pushing for a dime-a-drink alcohol tax hike for more than a year are now embracing a newly introduced 3% sales tax on beer, wine and spirits that would raise less than half of what they were seeking, and would not be dedicated to health and disability services as the advocates had hoped. [...more]
