(Providence, RI) -- A Republican state lawmaker is proposing a bill to repeal the sales tax on beer and malt beverages. Representative Blake Filippi says state merchants are losing business to customers looking to save money and don't mind traveling a few miles to Massachusetts where there is no sales tax on all alcoholic beverages. The sales tax in Rhode Island amounts to about ten-million dollars in revenue. Filippi says the excise tax on beer paid by wholesalers and distributors would make up for the lost revenue.