Federal legislation that calls for sanctions on states that do not adopt mandatory ignition interlock laws for all offenders fails to take into account what many states have recognized: The simple passage of laws to reduce drunk driving-caused deaths and injuries cannot work without proper implementation and monitoring. Even in the states where mandatory interlock laws have been passed, compliance rates are very low, and the monitoring of offenders is scarce. Compliance and enforcement remain critical components when dealing with hardcore and repeat drunk drivers and ensuring that technology is installed and used.

“Beverage retailers understand that successfully confronting drunk driving remains a challenge for those of us who are working to see its demise,” said ABL Executive Director John Bodnovich. “But cookie-cutter federal mandates ignore the proper role of the criminal justice system and fail to incorporate a comprehensive approach tailored to each offender based on their needs and dependency.”

Preventing judges and courts from using discretion in how they adjudicate drunk driving cases would weaken efforts to monitor hardcore drunk drivers and other high-risk offenders. This is to say nothing of the conservatively-estimated $400 million that this unfunded mandate would cost states and local governments, according to the American Probation and Parole Association. It also disregards ongoing efforts by states to vigorously enforce existing laws and the results those efforts are yielding.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2010 Americans travelled approximately 46 billion more miles by car than they did in 2009, but roadway fatalities fell to their lowest-recorded numbers since 1949. Highway fatalities that involved drunk drivers fell 4.9 percent in 2010.

“While the drop in fatalities last year and over the past several decades is welcome news, we know there is more work to be done,” said Bodnovich. “That’s why beverage retailers will continue to support the efforts of state legislatures and the judicial system to better protect their communities from drunk driving through graduated sentencing, including required ignition interlocks for hardcore and repeat offenders, and other permanent approaches that address recidivism.”

Long-term solutions to drunk driving cannot rely on technology alone, and federal policy that does not address recidivism or distinguish between the dependencies of individual offenders is not the long-term solution that the country deserves.

The FBETC is a grassroots coalition of over 50 national family-owned business organizations dedicated to the full, permanent repeal of the estate tax. For many family-owned businesses to keep operating after the death of the owner, they must plan for the estate tax. Planning costs associated with the estate tax are a drain on business resources, taking money away from day to day operations and business investment.

Under current federal law, property transferred at death is taxed when the value of the property exceeds the estate tax exemption. In 2010, the FBETC supported the estate tax provisions in the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2010 that the President signed into law. The current law provides an exemption of $5 million with a top tax rate of 35 percent per spouse, indexed for inflation, for 2011 and 2012.

Should Congress fail to act this year, the top estate tax rate will increase to 55 percent with a $1 million exemption per married couple.

Because permanent repeal of the estate tax may not be achievable in this Congress, the FBETC supports permanently extending current law with a 35 percent top tax rate and $5 million exemption. Such an extension will bring the certainty that businesses need to plan for the future.

For more information about the FBETC, please visit www.estatetaxrelief.org.

Bennett Glazer

American Beverage Licensees (ABL) announced today that Bennett Glazer, CEO of Glazer’s, Inc., has been selected as the 2012 ABL Top Shelf Award honoree.  Mr. Glazer oversees one of the country’s largest distributors of beverage alcohol products, Glazer’s Distributors.

The ABL Top Shelf Award recognizes those members of the beverage alcohol industry who have demonstrated excellence over their career and have a successful history of positive influence on their communities.  The award will be presented to Mr. Glazer at the 10th Annual ABL Convention on June 12, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“We are delighted to honor Bennett Glazer with the 2012 Top Shelf Award,” said John Bodnovich, ABL’s Executive Director. “As a strong supporter of the three-tier system, we appreciate Glazer’s dedication to working with retailers to effectively serve customers. Their commitment to corporate responsibility and community involvement reflects the best of our great industry.”

As the CEO of one of the largest wine and spirits distributors in the country, Mr. Glazer cultivates vendor relationships, new business development and formulates company strategy. Glazer’s is a thirteen-state distributor in the Midwest andSouthwest U.S., with over 6,000 employees, 900 beverage suppliers, and over 30,000 customers. The firm is an industry leader in supply chain management, category management, and educating its employees and customers on how to grow the beverage category.  With revenues of $3 billion, Glazer’s has over 40 branch operations in its thirteen states.

Like many of America’s independent beverage retailers, Glazer’s is a multi-generational, family-owned business.  Originally founded by Mr. Glazer’s grandparents as a soda company, Glazer’s expanded to include beverage alcohol at the repeal of prohibition.

“The industry has been good to our family and good to our employees, and we consider the people in the industry to be a part of our family. The relationships we have built, and the friends we have made, they are what we appreciate the most,” said Glazer on how the family business has grown.

In addition to his more than 30 year career in the beverage alcohol industry, Mr. Glazer has distinguished himself as a leader in his community through his consistent support of the Dallas community through charitable giving and support for local and national organizations, including Meals on Wheels, Habitat for Humanity, the American Cancer Society and the Junior League of Dallas.

Mr. Glazer is part of the 3rd generation of his family to lead the Glazer’s company. He is the son of Nolan and Frances Glazer, and became the 4th family member to assume the CEO role in 1996. He has been a longtime member of the board of the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA), and received their Lifetime Leadership Award in 2006. In 2007, Glazer also received the George Washington Spirits Society Award.

For those who wish to join in honoring Mr. Glazer and for more information about the ABL Top Shelf Award Banquet and 2012 ABL Convention, which will be held June 10-12, 2012 at the Monte Carlo Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, please visit www.ablusa.org.

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About American Beverage Licensees (ABL)

American Beverage Licensees (ABL) is the preeminent national trade association for alcohol beverage retailers. Its members are comprised of on-premise and off-premise licensees who provide hundreds of thousands of jobs and annually infuse millions of dollars into the American economy.

Download the full PDF: Responsible Retailing Practices

This donation comes from funds contributed to Sky Ranch Foundation in memory of Harry G. Wiles (1945-2010) by his friends, ABL members and the hospitality industry.  A native of Boulder, Colorado, Wiles knew how horses can help kids, and was an avid supporter of the western lifestyle and horseback riding.

“ABL is so pleased that the Sky Ranch Foundation leadership put so much time and effort into identifying and supporting the Medicine Horse Program, with which Harry would have been proud to be associated,” said John Bodnovich, ABL’s Executive Director.  “The program has an important mission and we are grateful that these funds raised in Harry’s name are going to such a good cause.”

For over 11 years, non-profit organization Medicine Horse Program has been dedicated to enhancing the quality of life of adolescents, families, and adults through unique equine-assisted experiences.  MHP and the HopeFoal^TM Project provide group and individual therapy sessions that focus on healing.

“We are thrilled to have the financial support from the Sky Ranch Foundation,” says Kathy Johnson, Executive Director of Medicine Horse Program. “We have more children in need than ever before.” Noting the increased cost of expenses, Ms. Johnson noted, “We need these generous donations to provide the quality of services for which we are nationally renowned.”

To learn more about the Medicine Horse Program and the HopeFoal^TM Project, visit their website at www.medicinehorse.org.

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Read the full report on DOT’s Fastlane blog.

–Urges legislators to reject job-killing tax hikes at the local level–

A coalition of Pennsylvania hospitality businesses and workers today blasted a recommendation by the Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities (PLCM) to grant local governments the power to raise alcohol taxes – saying this tax increase would punish small businesses, hospitality workers and consumers.

The Pennsylvania Hospitality Jobs Coalition, comprised of a growing group of organizations across the Commonwealth and around the country, called the PLCM’s recommendation to increase alcohol taxes a job-killing burden on Pennsylvania’s hard-hit hospitality sector.

“Allowing local governments to impose drink taxes would be like signing new taxes on the dotted line,” said Patrick Conway, President & CEO of the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association.  “Enabling municipalities to adopt drink taxes would quickly lead to a patchwork of local drink taxes across the Commonwealth, hurting Pennsylvania consumers and businesses at a time when they simply cannot afford to be hurting more,” Conway said.

During a press conference today, the PLCM called on state legislators to allow local governments across the state to raise taxes on a number of products and services that would have an immediate negative impact on citizens – including a 10 percent hospitality tax on alcohol.

Amy Christie, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Tavern Association, blasted the tax proposal as an attack on Pennsylvania citizens and businesses that are struggling to survive. “While we understand that local cities may feel the need to acquire more funds, we would encourage the PLCM to work with their retail licensees instead of blindly taxing them,” said Christie.  “Our members already provide a great amount of charitable community services where they live and work, and this tax will take away from the contributions and support we provide to programs like youth recreational leagues, food for the homeless, constant support to high school sports teams, and so much more.  Additionally, our members go the extra mile to educate employees with the RAMP program – a proven and effective tool in preventing any alcohol related safety issues.”

A recent economic review found that Pennsylvania restaurant patrons already pay 5 different direct taxes and fees with each purchase, including: Federal Excise Tax ($13.50/proof gallon), the Johnstown Flood Tax (18%), Bottle Handling Fee ($1.20/bottle) State Sales Tax (6%), and Local Sales Tax (up to 2%).  The analysis showed that 61% of the purchase price of a typical bottle of spirits in Pennsylvania already goes to taxes – a rate which is already among the highest in the region, according to the Distilled Spirits Council, a national trade association which represents over 5,000 brands sold in Pennsylvania.

“At a time when restaurant patrons are worrying about their wallets, and small businesses are deciding between raising prices or laying off bartenders and busboys, this guaranteed tax increase would make life that much harder for a lot of people,” said David Wojnar, Vice President of the Distilled Spirits Council.

“Even New York has a lower tax burden on spirits,” Wojnar said, noting that the current implied excise tax rate on spirits in Pennsylvania ($6.55/gallon) is ranked second among all six states that border it: New York ($6.44); New Jersey ($4.40); Delaware ($3.75); West Virginia ($1.70); and Maryland ($4.45).  “We’ve experienced the negative impact the Allegheny County Drink Tax had on the hospitality industry in that region, and it would be a disaster if such a tax were replicated throughout the state.”

“As we have seen in other states, local option drink taxes penalize local bars and taverns by creating an uneven playing field between municipalities,” said John Bodnovich, executive director of American Beverage Licensees which represents nearly 20,000 independent beverage retailers throughout the country. “This is to say nothing of the impact of generally increasing drink taxes on small businesspeople who already get by on razor-thin margins and employee local residents to wait tables and tend bar.  It is bad policy to hamper small businesses with job-killing taxes in the face of 8.1 percent unemployment in Pennsylvania.”

Members of the coalition urged state legislators to seek policies that protect the hospitality businesses and workers – not punish them with narrow, highly-punitive tax hikes that hurt locally owned small businesses.

The membership of the Pennsylvania Hospitality Jobs Coalition includes:

• Pennsylvania Restaurant Association
• Pennsylvania Tavern Association
• American Beverage Licensees
• Distilled Spirits Council

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Bethesda, MD – December 5, 2011 – On this the seventy-eighth anniversary of the repeal of America’s failed thirteen-year experiment called Prohibition, licensed beverage retailers continue to uphold their longstanding legacy that began before Prohibition and has continued to flourish to this today under the three-tier system established following the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment on December 5, 1933.

“On Repeal Day, it’s important to both remember the dark days of Prohibition and celebrate the establishment of our vibrant, diverse and well-balanced industry based on a three-tier system that has served Americans to great success over the last seventy-eight years,” said John D. Bodnovich, ABL’s Executive Director.

Local taverns and package liquor stores have played an important role in the development of American hospitality and the country’s communities.  Now they hold an important role in the American economy providing an untold number of people with their first job.  Many of these businesses continue to be family-owned and operated just as they have been since the repeal of Prohibition.

Alcohol Tax Hike Would Harm Cook County Businesses & Jobs

Fourth Increase Since 2005 Would Threaten Hospitality Industry Jobs

November 8, 2011 – The Illinois Licensed Beverage Association (ILBA), representing more than 2,500 Illinois bar owners and liquor retailers, and American Beverage Licensees (ABL), the country’s largest trade association for independent bar, tavern and package liquor store owners, today expressed their strong opposition to alcohol tax increases proposed by Cook County (IL) Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

Under the proposed 2012 budget for Cook County, beer taxes would rise by 50 percent and spirits taxes by 25 percent.  This would be the fourth tax increase on alcohol on Chicago-area residents since 2005, and add to what is already one of the nation’s highest tax burdens on alcohol beverages.

“Continually treating beverage retailers and their customers as a piggy bank for county government is terrible public policy and threatens the long-term stability of the hospitality industry and the jobs it provides,” said ABL executive director John Bodnovich.  “If the goal is to stick yet another dagger in the local beverage business, this tax increase certainly would achieve that.”

The proposed tax increase on alcohol would also have an unintended consequence of creating an even more unlevel playing field for Cook County beverage licensees.  Higher taxes and subsequently higher consumer prices will incentivize package liquor store customers and bar and tavern patrons to conduct their business in the surrounding “collar counties” of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will.

Illinois’ largest trade association for on-premise beverage alcohol licensees, the Illinois Licensed Beverage Association, also objected to the ill-conceived notion that Cook County finances should be settled on the backs of its bars, taverns and licensed beverage stores.

“This is an attack on small business jobs – bartenders, servers, liquor store salespeople,” said Clausner.  “Chicago-area residents, who frequent bars, taverns and restaurants, as well as those who shop in liquor stores, shouldn’t be forced to pay higher taxes for simply supporting local businesses.”

Beverage alcohol taxes by any name or for any purpose are unmistakably taxes on the hospitality industry.  With independent bars and taverns already under a significant strain from an uncertain economy, a tax increase could hardly come at a worse time.

“Licensed beverage retailers in Cook County and their customers are already hit with some of the highest taxes on alcohol in the entire country,” said ILBA executive director Dan Clausner.  “The last thing they need as the state and it residents began to recover from the recession is increased taxes.”

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About American Beverage Licensees (ABL)

American Beverage Licensees (ABL) is the preeminent national trade association for beverage alcohol retailers. Its members are comprised of on-premise and off-premise licensees who provide hundreds of thousands of jobs and annually infuse millions of dollars into the American economy. To learn more about ABL, visit www.ablusa.org.

About Illinois Licensed Beverage Association (ILBA)

Organized in 1880, the Illinois Licensed Beverage Association (ILBA) is the oldest business trade association in the country dedicated to promoting and protecting the retail businesses that sell or serve beverage alcohol. Over 2,500 Illinois retail liquor businesses (on and off-premise) belong to the ILBA, a not-for-profit corporation.  Members include: taverns, restaurants, fraternal clubs, package stores, bowling centers, golf courses, hotels, gas stations, convenience stores & grocery stores. To learn more about ILBA, visit www.ilba.net.

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