If Oregon lawmakers succeed in passing a bill they introduced at the state Legislature last week, the worst part of waking up might be having to pay tax on the coffee in your cup.
Introduced by the Oregon House Committee on Revenue, Bill 2875 would impose a five-cent-per-pound tax on coffee at the wholesale level to raise revenue for the Alternative Education Sustainability Fund, an initiative that supports Oregon’s youth National Guard and the Department of Education. The bill, which would require a three-fifths majority approval to pass, would not be applied to businesses that go through fewer than 500 pounds of coffee beans or ground coffee each year.
While the tax doesn’t sound all that aggressive, the Portland-based Willamette Week estimates it could generate as much as $2 million on an annual basis — not exactly small potatoes. Fortunately for Oregonians and lovers of freedom around the country, a spokesman for the House Democrats named Scott Moore told The Week that the bill is unlikely to percolate.
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