A pair of Colorado’s Democratic lawmakers are reviving a proposal to raise money for addiction prevention, treatment and recovery programs by imposing new fees on alcoholic beverages.
The bill, which is expected to be officially introduced in the Colorado House this week, would apply the fees to beer, wine and spirits manufacturers and wholesale distributors, charging $0.26 per bottle of spirits, $0.05 per bottle of wine and about $0.03 per six-pack of beer. Small breweries would be exempt.
The fees would not kick in until July of 2027. They would be collected by the Colorado Department of Revenue and distributed by an oversight board. The money generated would go towards prevention, treatment and recovery programs, specifically for alcohol-related substance use disorders.
As of 2024, Colorado had some of the highest per-capita alcohol consumption in the U.S., and the 7th highest rate of alcohol-induced deaths, according to data from the state’s Department of Public Health and Environment.
State Rep. Jamie Jackson of Aurora, a sponsor of the bill, said fees on the alcohol industry are a way to create a dedicated, sustainable funding source for key services that face dwindling resources.
“We're talking about a billion-dollar industry annually, billions of dollars, and I think it's really time for us to put people over profits,” Jackson said. “At a time where we are cutting our budgets – that's programs and services that people desperately, desperately need – I want to create pathways for people to just get the help that they need.”
The bill will also be sponsored by State Sen. Judy Amabile of Boulder.
The fees, more specifically called enterprise fees, are not considered taxes under state law because they generate revenue from a specific industry to fund services directly related to that industry – in this case, charging the alcohol industry fees to fund alcohol-related addiction services. In Colorado, any new taxes must be approved by voters under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, or TABOR, while enterprise fees can be implemented simply through legislation.
The revenue generated by an enterprise fee in Colorado is capped at $20 million annually. The bill would create three separate enterprise fees – one for beer, a second for wine and a third for spirits – and the bill’s sponsors hope they could raise up to $60 million dollars per year in total.
The prevention services funded by the bill would include early intervention programs, community outreach and efforts to deter impaired driving, according to backers of the measure. Treatment services would include inpatient, residential, detoxification and crisis stabilization programs. And funding for recovery services would help expand access to programs that also incorporate behavioral health treatment, including those that are family or community-based.
The bill would also take steps to ensure that veterans have prioritized access to treatment and recovery services, and approximately two percent of the revenue raised would be set aside for Colorado’s federally recognized Native American tribes and urban Indian organizations.
Advocates say the funding is desperately needed as lawmakers prepare to make deep cuts to balance an $850 million state budget deficit, with money for prevention, treatment and recovery programs potentially on the chopping block.
“We're in a place where we could have to cut all these services, and people aren't getting what they need,” said Tonya Wheeler, executive director of Advocates for Recovery Colorado. “Substance use disorder needs to have the full continuum of prevention, treatment and recovery. We can't get rid of any piece of that.”
Wheeler is also concerned about diminished support on the federal level, pointing especially to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA. The agency has faced budget cuts, restructuring, staff reductions and hundreds of millions of dollars in grant cancellations over the last year under the Trump administration.
But the proposal will likely face pushback in Colorado, including from Gov. Jared Polis.
A similar measure was introduced during the 2024 legislative session, but failed to pass, in part because of pushback from the governor’s office. That year, Polis said he was concerned the bill would raise prices for consumers. He also pressured the bill’s sponsors to exempt all beer companies from the fees, including industry giants like Golden-based Coors Brewing Company and Budweiser-maker Anheuser-Busch.
Sponsors of the bill strongly opposed the change, arguing that exempting large companies would undermine the core intent of the policy. The measure died on the legislative calendar.
Polis has yet to take an official position on this year’s proposal.
“The governor will review the final bill if it reaches his desk,” Polis spokesperson Shelby Wieman said in a statement.
Jackson said negotiations with the governor’s office over the policy are already happening, but that she opposes a carve-out for beer that includes large brewers.
“I don't understand the justification or reasoning for why we would exempt it,” Jackson said.
Alcohol industry trade groups opposed the 2024 measure, and are likely to have the same position on this year’s. The Colorado Brewers Guild does not take official positions on bills that have not been introduced, but executive director Shawnee Adelson said her organization is already skeptical.
“We have concerns with the proposed legislation,” Adelson said, adding that the fees would “continue to harm Colorado's craft breweries at a time when they are already struggling with rising costs and softening demand.”
Other groups, including the Colorado Association for Viticulture & Enology, which advocates for the state’s wine makers, and the Colorado Distillers Guild, also expressed similar concerns, but stopped short of taking official positions.
