HB 2079 Call to Action

As we enter the final days of the 2025 legislative session the legislature just introduced House Bill 2079  that increases our state’s wine excise taxes. The Washington Wine Institute is leading the charge in opposition to this bill! This dramatic increase in our tax rate would hurt local wineries and grape growers, consumers, and will devestate an already struggling industry. Putting additional costs to doing business like this tax increase, will only decrease sales and may actually reduce potential revenue.

Have your voice heard in Olympia and help us push back on this harmful wine tax proposal!

Talking Points

1. Raising excise taxes on table wine by more than 10 percent per gallon creates a 100% tax increase on distribution and direct to consumer sales.
2. The general additional tax would make Washington’s wine excise tax significantly higher than the two states we compete most with in the market: CA at .20/gallon, OR at .67/gallon. Increasing WA to .96/gallon would make us even less competitive than we are today!
3. Many wineries are now dealing with the damage tariffs are doing to them, lower sales from less tourists visits, and changes in consumer purchasing choices.  They cannot absorb additional taxes without risking jobs or operations.
4. Washington wineries are currently facing international trade challenges, particularly the loss of Canadian market access due to retaliatory tariffs, which have taken $10 million in WA wine sales from them annually and significantly harmed what was once Washington’s largest export market
5. Please reject HB 2079 and support your wineries and grape growers that chose to plant vineyards here, build their wineries here, and help make Washington State a world class wine destination.

We are happy to provide a sample email content for you to personalize and send using the below link. Email us at josh@wwi.wine and we’ll get you that content ASAP.