Impact DWI, Inc. is coordinating a public petition to the New Mexico State Legislature to request an increase in the state alcohol excise tax from the current rate to a new proposed rate of 25 cents per ounce of alcohol content. That is about a dime a drink for a 12oz. beer, and slightly more for wine and liquor.

The purpose of this increase is twofold: 1. To help offset the more than $1 billion in costs to the New Mexico taxpayers from alcohol abuse.

2. To provide a greatly increased level of prevention efforts and treatment programs at state and county levels, which are both scientifically verified and based on real evidence.

Itemized below are recommendations for inclusion in the new enabling legislation. The recommendations are drawn from the experience of members of Impact DWI, Inc., the Santa Fe County DWI Planning Council, and MADD.

Recommended Components:
1. Increase the State's alcohol excise tax to 25 c per oz. of alcohol content. By comparison, beer is currently about 3.6c for 12 ounces (which, in relation to beer's pure alcohol content, the current tax is less than 6c to 7c per oz.).

2. Tax all alcoholic beverages equally instead of the current variable rate system which taxes each type of alcoholic beverage at a different rate- it is the alcohol content of a beverage which causes the societal damage and the tax rate should reflect that factor.

3. Ear-mark the entire proceeds of the tax revenue for the purpose of alcohol prevention, treatment and law enforcement including increased monitoring of retailers to limit sales to minors. The current tax collects about $40 million a year of which $13 million is distributed to the county DWI Programs for prevention and treatment. The balance of the monies is then placed into the general fund.

4. Based upon the current alcohol tax revenue figure of $40 million, under the above proposal the additional income generated would be approximately $80 million for a total of approximately $120 million. It is recommended that one-third of that be distributed to the counties primarily for prevention, treatment and law enforcement use, with the balance of the revenue going to the State Department of Health for its alcohol related programs.

5. Some of the new monies received by the Department of Health should be used to establish centrally located, state monitored/contract run residential treatment centers. These centers would address all aspects of alcohol abuse (not just DWI). They would also provide necessary medical treatment to obtain as complete mental, physical and emotional health as possible on an individual basis. In addition, consideration should be given to using the time each patient spends as a resident, to provide them with formal educational, work and other life-skills relative to each individual's ability and need. As each patient "graduates from any alcohol related treatment program, they should be provided with reasonable financial aid and "after care" to help insure their successful reentry into the community.

6. Other monies, from new funds received, should be directed toward victim assistance. Consideration should be given to providing victims assistance with counseling in regard to legal, administrative and other issues directly related to DWI crashes or other, documented alcohol abuse related impact upon their lives (which are not of their own causing). In addition, consideration, when drafting this new legislation, should be given to reimbursing victims for their unreimbursed medical expenses up to an established life-time limit if the casual incident is not of the victim's own causing.

7. All alcohol abuse related programs, funded in either whole or part from the alcohol tax, should, where possible, be science and evidenced based to help insure that the premise under which they operate is as effective as possible. Also, a monitoring process should be established which determines the ongoing effectiveness of each program in regard to its' mission statement.

8. Correct an existing omission in the State's existing alcohol excise tax collection program by including an annual audit of all alcohol sales by retailers. Currently, alcohol taxes are submitted to the State on an "honor system" by the retailers. There is NO audit even though the amount involved amounts to multiple millions of dollars and the money collected belongs to the citizens of New Mexico. This again reflects the excessive influence which the alcohol industry exerts upon our Legislature. It is also recommended that, initially, that the audit be extended back for a period of five years to insure that all monies due to the State have actually been collected by the State.