Liquor Fee Boost Draws GOP Fire
Drawing the ire of Republican committee members today is a proposed fee increase from 3 to 11 cents per gallon of liquor. Particularly interested were committee Co-chair Dean Kaufert, who is a Neenah tavern owner, and Rep. Scott Jensen, who lamented that patrons out for a Friday fish fry will have to pay more for their brandy old-fashioned.
Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan said Republicans are desperate to find so-called "new" taxes. He said they are frustrated by Gov. Jim Doyle's ability to keep down taxes, something he said Republican governors were unable to accomplish. "Now they've got a governor who has lived up to it and they can't handle it," Pocan said.
As for the liquor fee, Pocan calculated that it will amount to about one-fifteenth of a penny "on an old-fashioned, or I guess in some fundraising circles, a white wine spritzer."
