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NY Finding Way to Cheer Beer Brewers

New York Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos says he expects a deal to be announced soon to maintain a price break for beer, which has helped New York's craft brewers grow. WAMC’s Dave Lucas reports…

A Belchertown, Massachusetts brewer had successfully sued to eliminate the price break for its New York competitors.

Skelos tells The Associated Press that closed-door negotiations with the Assembly and Governor Andrew Cuomo developed a tax credit that will be substituted for the 14-cent-per-gallon exemption statewide and an additional 12-cent exemption per gallon for New York City brewers. Small, but thriving New York brewers enjoyed the exemption until a court ruled it unconstitutional.

Without the credit, brewers face an annual tax increase of $10,000 to $1 million dollars. That would limit their ability to continue to expand.

Dave Lucas, WAMC News. 

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.