They’re Plowing Roads, Collecting Trash in National Parks. Why Is TTB Still Closed?

The Trump Administration has gone out of its way to make the partial government shutdown as painless as possible for ordinary Americans, if not for government employees.

It’s using money from admission fees at National Parks to plow snow on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and to pick up trash and clean restrooms at other national parks.  It’s making sure tax refunds go out, along with Social Security checks. It will bring back enough IRS personnel to process tax returns, thereby speeding tax refunds.  Agencies have been using unspent, previously appropriated funds to keep operating.

In short, the Trump rule seems to be that if an agency can find the cash – through its own fees, unspent funds or some other way, it can keep operating.  Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau generates a large amount of revenue for the Government.

So, here’s a question:  Why is TTB still closed?

And here’s the answer:  Tax revenue collected by TTB doesn’t flow to the agency.  It goes to the U.S. Treasury’s General Fund. TTB doesn’t charge a fee to process a certificate of label approval.  Or for Brewer’s Notice permits.  Or for basic permits.

That leads to the obvious conclusion that if industry members find the partial government shutdown’s effect on TTB to hinder their operations, industry members should lobby Congress to either (1) exempt TTB and other revenue-generating agencies from future shutdowns, or (2) allow TTB to charge a fee to cover the cost of processing COLAs, permits, etc.

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