The Small BREW Act is the bill supported by the Brewers Association. The Small BREW Act is constructed so that it has an actual chance to pass. The BEER Act, pushed by the group (Beer Institute) that represents the large, global companies and two major importers is constructed as a defensive bill aimed at preventing excise tax increases. Of course the legislative efforts do not "belong" to either organization, but are under the control of member of Congress. The infographic at
http://www.brewersassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/FET-GRAPHIC.pdf goes through the detail of the two bills. The Beer Institute's bill is not aimed at passage, but aims to block the Small BREW Act from passage by causing confusion and doesn't claim to be a jobs creation bill, but instead provides huge benefit to foreign brewers and their importers who expatriate their profits. Why should the U.S. Congress give away tens of millions of dollars to foreign companies?
It should be noted that the BEER Act moved significantly closer to what the Small BREW Act calls for in this session of Congress. The BEER Act no longer calls for a $1.5 billion-plus tax cut for the global giant brewers. The element that looks good with the BEER Act is the elimination of federal excise tax for brewers under 15k barrels per year. If our legislative champions wish to include that provision down the road, I do not think the Brewers Association board of directors would object. It just isn't realistic in the current budget environment. The BEER Act doesn't have a realistic chance of passage. The BEER Act has always been aimed at signing up co-sponsors to say beer deserves a tax break so that it would be harder for members of Congress to support a tax increase. It is a defensive bill aimed to clog the system. The Small BREW Act has a chance to pass and will create jobs.
Bob Pease & Paul Gatza
Brewers Association staff