THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	1382
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO LIQUOR.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that there are several short‑ and long-term health risks associated with excessive alcohol use. The immediate health risks of excessive alcohol use may include injuries, such as motor vehicle crashes, falls, drownings, and burns; violence, including homicide, suicide, sexual assault, and intimate partner violence; alcohol poisoning; and risky sexual behaviors, such as unprotected sex or sex with multiple partners, which can result in unintended pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases. For pregnant women, excessive alcohol use may result in miscarriage and stillbirth or fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Over time, excessive alcohol use can cause chronic diseases and other serious problems including high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, digestive problems, certain types of cancer, a weakening of the immune system, learning and memory problems, mental health problems, social problems, and alcohol use disorders or alcohol dependence.

In addition to the health risks associated with excessive alcohol use, the legislature also finds that excessive alcohol use contributes to significant economic costs to the State, including health care, lost productivity, and criminal justice costs. While there was a 2015 study that estimated the total cost of excessive alcohol use for Hawaii at $937,400,000 for 2010, with government paying 39.4 per cent of these costs, which translates to $369,200,000, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also estimates 526 alcohol-attributable deaths in Hawaii, averaged annually, due to excessive alcohol use from 2015-2019.

In contrast, the total amount of state and federal funding for substance abuse prevention and treatment services in the department of health alcohol and drug abuse division is only approximately $34,000,000. Therefore, increasing the price of alcohol products to discourage alcohol consumption and appropriating the additional revenue into more substance abuse and mental health prevention and treatment services, will substantively diminish alcohol-related health and social impacts.

SECTION 2. Section 244D-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) Every person who sells or uses any liquor in the State not taxable under this chapter, in respect of the transaction by which the person or the person's vendor acquired the liquor, shall pay a gallonage tax that is hereby imposed at the following rates for the various liquor categories defined in section 244D-1:

(1) On July 1, 1998, and thereafter, the tax rate shall be:

[(1)] (A) $5.98 per wine gallon on distilled spirits;

[(2)] (B) $2.12 per wine gallon on sparkling wine;

[(3)] (C) $1.38 per wine gallon on still wine;

[(4)] (D) $0.85 per wine gallon on cooler beverages;

[(5)] (E) $0.93 per wine gallon on beer other than draft beer; and

[(6)] (F) $0.54 per wine gallon on draft beer; and

(2) On July 1, 2023, and thereafter, the tax rate shall be:

(A) $7.95 per wine gallon on distilled spirits;

(B) $2.82 per wine gallon on sparkling wine;

(C) $1.84 per wine gallon on still wine;

(D) $1.13 per wine gallon on cooler beverages;

(E) $1.24 per wine gallon on beer other than draft beer; and

(F) $0.72 per wine gallon on draft beer;

and at a proportionate rate for any other quantity so sold or used."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act, upon its approval, shall take effect on January 1, 2024.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________
	BY REQUEST

Report Title:

Liquor Tax; Increase

Description:

Increases the per wine gallon tax on alcoholic beverages.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.