# WTF is the Minnesota legislature up to? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 23, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722 "2005-04-23T03:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722/1 "2005-04-23T03:21:00Z")
Paging **elucidator** and **Diogenes the Cynic**. Maybe your legislators think alcohol is bad, but an 816% increase strikes me as excessive. :dubious: [See line 13.32](http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=S0606.1&session=ls84) ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722/2 "2005-04-23T03:51:51Z")
I think that has to be a misprint. I know T-Paw is desperate to raise money and has already slashed social programs the bone. He refuses to raise state income taxes because he got elected on an anti-tax platform and he also has some delusions of running for the White House. So raising the liquor tax and trying to extort money out of Indian gambling revenues are his best two ideas. What I’ve been hearing is that the liquor tax for consumers is supposed to amount to about a penny per drink. What you’ve got pinpointed is a wholesale tax, though and I haven’t heard anything about that. I think those crossed out numbers couldn’t really mean what they seem to mean but this stuff is totally Greek to me so i can’t really say. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722/3 "2005-04-23T03:55:27Z")
Holy shit! That’s not an increase…that’s open warfare! If any regular drinker sits down with a calculator… ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722/4 "2005-04-23T05:50:44Z")
Bullshit T-Paw has slashed social programs to the bone. In E Grand Forks there are flyers posted in almost every public place offereing state-paid legal services for illegals. (Yes, there are many. They come to work the farms.) ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722/5 "2005-04-23T05:59:14Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Bullshit T-Paw has slashed social programs to the bone. In E Grand Forks there are flyers posted in almost every public place offereing state-paid legal services for illegals. (Yes, there are many. They come to work the farms.) I work with disabled people getting state assistance. It’s my job. My clients have had their services radically cut. Many of the AmericaCorps programs I used to volunteer for (after school programs, summer day camps and tutoring programs for inner city kids) have been eliminated. I promise you, social services in Minnesota have been drastically slashed, and for the most vulnerable people. I’m seeing it first hand and dealing with the consequences. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722/6 "2005-04-23T06:41:21Z")
Thanks for the response **Dio**. Is this prehaps a “sin tax” agenda? At line 12.21 the increase is 352% At line 12.26 the increase is 800% At line 12.32 the increase is 317% At line 13.10 the increase is 1500% :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722/7 "2005-04-23T13:44:50Z")
Apparently, putting Minnesota bars and liquor stores out of business while we all drive to Hudson to drink (no worrys about Wisconsin passing excessive liquor taxes). Between the Twin Cities and Duluth, most of us can buy our booze in Wisconsin without a big problem…did it with fireworks for years. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722/8 "2005-04-23T14:13:59Z")
But I thought all the liqour stores in Minnesota were owned by the state? ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722/9 "2005-04-23T14:55:08Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Apparently, putting Minnesota bars and liquor stores out of business while we all drive to Hudson to drink (no worrys about Wisconsin passing excessive liquor taxes). Between the Twin Cities and Duluth, most of us can buy our booze in Wisconsin without a big problem…did it with fireworks for years. Right, because they’re such desparate alcoholics that beer is covered under WIC. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722/10 "2005-04-23T17:54:45Z")
Beer production has major lobbies left in Wisconsin (as I understand it). Doesn’t any longer in Minnesota. Moreover, while Wisconsin has had its share of “moral” politicians (Tommy Thompson), it doesn’t have the seem to have the extremes Minnesota does. Minnesota can’t manage to pass letting anything other than 3.2 beer be sold in grocery stores - between the liquor lobby and the moral rights “easy access to liquor will turn everyone into drunks” folk. They seem to be more sensible (except perhaps when it comes to football, and that cherry in the beer thing - that’s weird - but that might have been a Polish in Kenosha deal) than we are. Sorry if I offended your delicate sensibilities. Liquor stores in Minnesota are privately owned (they are owned by the state in Iowa, though, at least they were when I went to college there) - my Italian relatives have had one in continuous operation since 1918. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722/11 "2005-04-23T17:59:20Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Sorry if I offended your delicate sensibilities. > > Liquor stores in Minnesota are privately owned (they are owned by the state in Iowa, though, at least they were when I went to college there) - my Italian relatives have had one in continuous operation since 1918. Delicate sensibilities. You rely on a stereotype, and I’m oversensitive. Twit. ---
**Author:** ![SlyFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SlyFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlyFrog)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722/12 "2005-04-23T18:32:30Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Liquor stores in Minnesota are privately owned (they are owned by the state in Iowa, though, at least they were when I went to college there) - my Italian relatives have had one in continuous operation since 1918. Not all of them. The local ones nearest us are all muni-owned. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722/13 "2005-04-23T18:33:38Z")
> [@niblet\_head](#): > > But I thought all the liqour stores in Minnesota were owned by the state? No they are not. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722/14 "2005-04-23T18:41:20Z")
I don’t think **Dangerosa** was relying on a stereotype. The fact is that the Wisconsin Tavern League is a very powerful lobby and Wisconsin dramatically raising it’s alcohol taxes is NOT very likely. In fact, within the last month a member of the Wisconsin legislature proposed a beer tax that would amount to a 2 cent increase on every 6-pack and she was laughed off of the floor. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722/15 "2005-04-23T18:43:55Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Is this prehaps a “sin tax” agenda? > At line 12.21 the increase is 352% > At line 12.26 the increase is 800% > At line 12.32 the increase is 317% > At line 13.10 the increase is 1500% :eek: Lines 14.2 and beyond make this look like a “what one hand taketh away, the other giveth” sort of deal. The tax increase, and the producer tax credit changes match: > [@](#): > > 13.32 (2) on fermented malt beverages containing more than 3.2 > 13.33 percent alcohol by weight, XXXX $37.52 per 31-gallon barrel. > … > 14.2 Subd. 2. [TAX CREDIT.] A qualified brewer producing > 14.3 fermented malt beverages is entitled to a tax credit > 14.4 of XXXX $37.52 per barrel on 25,000 barrels sold in any fiscal > 14.5 year beginning July 1, regardless of the alcohol content of the > 14.6 product. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722/16 "2005-04-23T18:44:16Z")
By the way, your archaic laws over there in MN cause me a lot of extra work late in the summer, so I would appreciate it if you could at least get that 3.2 beer thing changed. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722/17 "2005-04-24T15:48:13Z")
Welcome to Canada! The assimilation has begun. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722/18 "2005-04-24T17:25:03Z")
Canada for perscription drugs, Wisconsion for our booze. We won’t spend any time in our own state. Then again, we still don’t have sales tax on clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Lao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722/19 "2005-04-24T18:57:34Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > Lines 14.2 and beyond make this look like a “what one hand taketh away, the other giveth” sort of deal. The tax increase, and the producer tax credit changes match: But it looks as though the credit is for in-state brewers, while the tax is on all beer, imported or otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Lao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722/20 "2005-04-24T19:02:34Z")
> [@Mockingbird](#): > > Right, because they’re such desparate alcoholics that beer is covered under WIC. > > :rolleyes: Hey, I’m a nearly-born and raised Wisconsinite and what’s the big deal? We enjoy our beer. I’m not ashamed of it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-the-minnesota-legislature-up-to/300722.md?page=2)