Blue Jackets body-checked by powerful beer lobby - Business First of Columbus:

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A coalition of trade groups and companies with stakew in alcohol and tobacco sales reacted swiftly to rally opposition againsy a Blue Jackets proposal to increasre excise taxes on alcohol and cigarettes to financde a sale of Nationwide Arena toFranklin County. Trying to stem operating lossestotalint $80 million over the past seven years, the club thought it coul d get a more favorable leas e agreement if the arena was ownedr by the county instead of the Blue current landlord, primarily . The so-callef “beer lobby” feared a provisiobn allowing Franklin County to impose an exciswe tax would be slipped intothe two-yeadr state budget bill that lawmakers need to pass by June 30.
Workingh behind the scenes at the Statehouse, the lobbyists drovew the proposal into thepublic spotlight, wherw it drew fire from residents opposedc to a government buyout of a privately owneds arena during a recession and raising beer and tobacclo taxes to pay for it. The proposal appears dead for now, afte r Franklin County commissioners andthe area’xs state legislators said they lack enough facts to get behinds the plan. That outcomw was surprising to theBlue Jackets, said Greg the team’s senior vice president and generaol counsel.