U.S. Senate Bill S. 534 - Ask Your Senators to Become Co-Sponsors

Contact information for your U.S. Senators can be found on the U.S. Senate home page by utilizing the "Find Your Senators" drop down search function in the upper right-hand corner.  Once you've identified your two Senators and have the contact information for their Washington, D.C. offices, please call, email and/or fax a request that your Senators become co-sponsors of S. 534.  See the list of current bill co-sponsors.

• S. 534 Support Letter Owner-CEO
• S. 534 Support Letter Employee

U.S. House of Representatives Bill H.R. 1236 - Ask Your Representative to Become a Co-Sponsor

Contact information for your U.S. Representative can be found on the U.S. House of Representatives home page by entering your zip code in the box in the upper left-hand corner. Once you've identified your Representative and have the contact information for the Washington, D.C. office, please call, email and/or fax a request that your Representative become a co-sponsor of H.R. 1236. See the list of current bill co-sponsors.

• H.R. 1236 Support Letter Owner-CEO 
• H.R. 1236 Support Letter Employee

Outline for Calling and/or Writing Your U.S. Congressional Representatives

Here’s a brief outline to use when calling or writing an email. Express and add your own passion for beer and small brewers to your conversation:

1. Tell them your name, company name (if employed by a brewery or beer related business) and where you are from.
2. Give them your contact information.
3. Your conversation:
   • Thank you for taking the time to hear my request of Representative/Senator XXX.
   • Representatives Jim Gerlach and Richard Neal, both members of the House Ways & Means Committee, introduced H.R. 1236 in March, 2011.  Senators John Kerry and Mike Crapo also introduced S. 534 in March, 2011.
   • This legislation would help create jobs for America’s 1,700+ small breweries.  Small breweries are small businesses that employ nearly 100,000 people in local communities throughout America.
   • The legislation will reduce excise tax for the nation’s small breweries from $7 to $3.50 per barrel for the first 60,000 barrels of beer produced. It will also provide a tax reduction from the current rate of $18 per barrel to a reduced rate of $16 for the first 2 million barrels for small brewers that produce less than 6 million barrels. In summary, the bill recalibrates the small brewer excise tax rate to benefit the nation’s smallest breweries which employ people in communities throughout America.
   • The estimated cost of the provision is $14.5 million per year and $81.9 million over 5 years.
   • A Harvard study of the economic impact of H.R. 1236 and S. 534 indicates that:
     • The bill would generate more than 4,400 new jobs over the first year to 18 months, followed by an average of 300 new jobs per year over the following 4 years.
     • Each new job would cost less than $3,500 in foregone government revenue.
   • Can Representative/Senator XXX consider supporting and co-sponsoring this bill?
   • Thank you for your time.