Lawmakers created Parents Empowered in 2012 and required that 6% of all liquor sales go to fund the program, which encourages parents to take a more active role in preventing underage drinking.
Now the legislators think cutting agency spending is more important. So they are targeting Parents Empowered. “If we eliminate the program, it doesn’t hurt Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control operations,” committee co-chair, Rep. R. Curt Webb, R-Providence, said.
But in passing the budget, they mandated a new school-age prevention program, to be funded by a 2 percentage point increase in Liquor markups.