Aiming to give craft beer brewers a break

Sen. Charles Schumer and state Sen. Lee Zeldin were among legislators who gathered Sunday in a Manhattan tavern to clink glasses together in agreement to fight for local craft beer makers.

"Our craft brewing industry has become one of the fastest-growing industries in New York," said Schumer (D-N.Y.) at a news conference in front of the East Village Tavern. "They make great new tastes. They also make new jobs."

In April, the State Supreme Court struck down a tax exemption for small New York breweries after a Massachusetts brewery sued the State Liquor Authority saying the exemption gave local beer makers an unfair advantage. The court ruled that all breweries, whether based in New York or elsewhere, must pay the same taxes.

Before the ruling, local brewers received an exemption from excise taxes on the first 200,000 barrels of beer produced that out-of-state beer makers didn't get. The loss of the exemption will cost breweries more than $400,000 on 100,000 barrels, Schumer said.

This makes staying competitive in New York more challenging and may force breweries to pass the cost to consumers, raising the price of a pint of an average craft beer by $1, Schumer said.

The president of Patchogue-based Blue Point Brewing Company said he has no plan to raise prices yet, but he said the extra costs will make it harder to grow.

"We were going to expand and this [the court decision] is a roadblock to that expansion," said Mark Buford.

Schumer is supporting the Brewer's Employment and Excise Tax Relief Act (BEER Act) that would cut federal taxes on small breweries from $7 for the first 60,000 barrels brewed to $3.50.

Meanwhile, Zeldin (R-Shirley), state Sen. Daniel Squadron (D-Manhattan) and Assemb. Joe Lentol (D-Brooklyn) will introduce legislation that would give local brewers a 14-cent per gallon tax credit for the first 6.2 million gallons of beer produced in-state.

"It's a positive trajectory," said Zeldin, sipping on a glass of Blue Point Toasted Lager. "We're keeping liquidity in our own economy and supporting New York businesses."

According to Schumer's office, the industry supports about 60,000 jobs in brewing, distribution and retail sales. Long Island has 10 craft breweries and five more are slated to open in the future.