Although 4:40 p.m. would not typically be considered peak business hours for a bar, almost 20 patrons sat in The Peanut Barrel Restaurant at that time Monday - a few eating one of the establishment's hamburgers, some simply perched at the bar for a drink.
Among the latter was Johnny Stewart, who sat reading the paper with a large glass of beer in his right hand.
The Charlotte resident was one of the bar's customers who expressed dismay about Gov. Jennifer Granholm's recent proposal to raise Michigan's liquor markup from 65 percent to 74 percent.
"I think it's a terrible idea," Stewart said, glancing up from the paper spread out before him. "It hurts the little people."
The price of the beer that Stewart chose to drink Monday afternoon would not be affected by the proposed markup, but the price of the Seagram's VO Blended Canadian Whiskey he said he enjoys would.
The Michigan Liquor Control Commission places a base price on all of the state's liquor.
It then applies a markup to that price, the proceeds of which go to the state.
If Granholm's proposal - part of her plan to close a $1.3 billion budget shortfall - goes through the Legislature, the maximum markup the commission could apply to liquor would increase by nine percent, in turn making Stewart's favorite whiskey pricier.
The proposal is expected to generate around $30 million.
Pleasantly chatting with customers from behind the bar, Joe Bell, owner of The Peanut Barrel, said he hopes the proposal doesn't become law.
"Any time you have to raise prices, that sucks," Bell said, noting that the higher price he has to pay for liquor probably would drive him to raise drink prices. "It's not something you want to do, but what choice do you have?"
State Rep. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, sponsored the bill Granholm based her proposal on.
Whitmer said her goal was to raise money to set aside for fire protection funding for municipalities that have to protect state buildings, like those at MSU.
She said raising the liquor markup was a method used in the past for this purpose and it seemed appropriate.
"This would help to ensure that cities have sufficient fire protection," Whitmer said. "I'm not picking on sin taxes."
Whitmer's bill also would raise the discount the state gives establishments on liquor from 17 percent to 19.25 percent, something she added to help offset the increase in prices for retailers. The discount is what allows establishments to make money from selling liquor, since the state determines its shelf price.
Whitmer, whose bill is expected to raise $17 million for fire protection, said she couldn't say whether the increased discount would be part of the bill after passing through the Legislature.
But Martin Van Valkenburg, a spokesman for the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association, which represents thousands of liquor licensees in the state, said raising the liquor markup would decrease business for liquor retailers and bars regardless of the discount.
"It's an extremely delicate situation," Van Valkenburg said. "The restaurant or bar owner is either going to have to increase the price of drinks, or he's going to have to eat it.
"If he is eating the cost, the first thing he'll look to is cutting employees' hours and benefits."
He added that Michigan residents might make trips to Ohio or Indiana, which have cheaper liquor prices, to buy their beverages.
Sipping his beer at the bar, Stewart said he feels the state should not have to resort to increasing sin taxes in order to solve budget woes.
"Drinking and smoking is bad and that's why they can jack the price up," Stewart said, also referencing Granholm's proposal to raise Michigan's cigarette tax by 75 cents. "They need to just cut spending."
