Senate Bill 221 Provides Money from Alcohol Tax for Treatment and Prevention Programs

JUNEAU- On Wednesday, March 21^st, the Senate Health & Social Services Committee will take up Senate Bill 221 to allocate 100 percent of the money collected from the existing alcohol tax to the Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Treatment and Prevention Fund (ADTP). Senate Bill 221 was introduced by the Senate Finance Committee as a way to offset the immense economic and social cost to the state related to substance abuse.

Supporters of SB 221 believe that funds available from the alcohol tax were intended to supplement and not supplant existing general fund (GF) monies for behavioral health. In an effort to ensure Alaska had necessary funding for substance abuse prevention and treatment programs, then State Representative Lisa Murkowski championed HB 225 to raise the alcoholic beverage tax and establish the ADTP fund to generate needed revenue for these programs and services. Unfortunately, since 2003, only 50 percent of the funds collected from the existing alcohol tax have been appropriated to the ADTP fund. SB 221 will address the growing and urgent need for expanded substance abuse treatment capacity by allotting all tax proceeds from the sale of alcohol to fund treatment and prevention programs.

Senate Bill 221 is supported by a unique coalition of the alcoholic beverage industry, treatment providers and faith-based organizations. “Substance abuse treatment services continue to be underfunded statewide, leaving individuals to continue the costly and tragic cycle of addiction,” said Dale Fox, President of the Cabaret, Hotel, Restaurant & Retailers Association. “Alaska’s hospitality industry pays the state government its fair share in taxes, and we support the use of this revenue to provide cost-effective, evidence based and readily available treatment.”

Alaska consistently ranks among the states with the highest rates of alcohol and other drug abuse. In 2005, the Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse published findings that the economic costs of alcoholism and drug abuse in Alaska is $738 million annually in productivity losses, criminal justice and child protective services, health care, traffic crashes and public assistance.

For more information, contact legislative aide Amory Lelake at 465.2906.

Source: Senate Majority Press