Hot Issues

California
Issue: The Marin Institute has called on the Governor and legislature to raise beer, wine and distilled spirits taxes to help address the $14 billion budget deficit.

Colorado
Issue: Recently introduced, Senate Bill 82 would eliminate the prohibition against the retail sale, service, or distribution of malt, vinous, and spirituous liquors in sealed containers on Sundays, effective November 1, 2008.

Florida
Issue: H.B. 105, under consideration in the House, requires scrap metal dealers to gather more in-depth information about the sellers of regulated metals, including kegs.  The bill also increases the penalties that scrap dealers and sellers of regulated metals face by failing to comply with the regulations and/or giving false information.

Illinois
Issue: The Chicago City Council held hearings on a proposed city tax increase amounting to 75% on non-beer alcohol and 23% on beer.

Indiana
Issue: Senate Bill 239 has been introduced that, among other things, allows a small brewery (defined as producing not more than 20,000 barrels a year) to sell and deliver beer to a consumer and removes a provision that allows a large brewery to sell and deliver beer to a consumer.

Maryland
Issue: House Bill 136, authorizing specified holders of a Class 7 micro-brewery license to sell and deliver not more than 5,000 barrels of beer each calendar year to persons licensed to sell beer at retail in the State, is under committee consideration.

Issue: S.B. 232 seeks to increase tax rates for alcoholic beverages in Maryland from 9 cents to 54 cents per gallon for beer, from $1.50 to $4.50 per gallon for distilled spirits, from 40 cents to $1.20 per gallon for wine.

Issue: Companion bills H.B. 339 and S.B. 9 would require the collection and recording of identifying information about the purchasers for all retail keg beer sales.

Minnesota
Issue: Legislation introduced in the Senate (S.B. 2326) would allow brewpubs and other small brewers to make on-premise and off-premise sales of their beer and to self-distribute.

New York
Issue: A.B. 8846 has been introduced with the intent of authorizing the issuance of a temporary beer, wine and liquor permit, good for twenty-four consecutive hours, to promote products produced in the state.

North Carolina
Issue: House Bill 1630 seeks to increase the small brewery production limit for self distribution to 60,000 gallons. Currently, once a brewer passes the 25,000 gallon production threshold, a wholesaler must be used for distribution.

Pennsylvania
Issue: Allegheny County has been granted the authority to levy a 10% tax on poured alcoholic drinks with the funds going to local transportation initiatives.
Status: Efforts at the county level to oppose this potential new tax are on-going.

South Dakota
Issue: H.B. 1210 prohibits recyclers, scrap metal dealers, or scrap yard operators from purchasing any metal beer keg, or identifiable pieces thereof, whether damaged or undamaged, except from the brewer or its authorized representative, if the keg is clearly marked as the property of a brewery manufacturer or the keg's identification markings have been made illegible.

Utah
Issue: House Bill 425 would legalize homebrewing and has passed out of committee.
Status: A House floor vote is imminent.

Issue: Legislation proposed in the Senate (S.B. 95) seeks to reduce the tax on liquor, wine and heavy beer produced by small breweries and distilleries.  Passing the Senate Business and Labor Committee, the bill would reduce the mark-up on heavy beers, those with an alcohol content higher than 3.2 percent.

Vermont
Issue: Passing the House and moving to the Senate, H.B. 94 seeks to raise the limit on the percentage of alcohol allowed in malt beverages from 8% to 16%.
Status: Look for a possible vote in late March.

Issue: Senate Bill 324 proposes to allow beer tastings in the same way that wine tastings are currently permitted.

Virginia
Issue: H.B. 421, requiring the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board to complete an implementation study on how it will privatize government stores by December 31, 2008, has been introduced. 

Washington
Issue: Under the provisions of H.B. 2076, the Liquor Control Board is directed to establish a pilot project for beer and wine tasting in grocery stores. The pilot project is for 30 stores with at least six tastings (but no more than once a month) at each location between October 1, 2007 and September 30, 2008.

Issue: Introduced in mid-January, House Bill 2501 allows beer and/or wine specialty shops to sell malt liquor in kegs or other containers capable of holding less than 15.5 gallons of liquid.

Wisconsin
Issue: A.B. 474 seeks to increase the tax on fermented malt beverages from $2 per barrel to $10 per barrel with the additional revenue funding enforcement and treatment services.

Wyoming
Issue: Legislation has been introduced seeking to increase the tax on beer 4.5 cents per gallon (up from 2 cents per gallon) to pay for mental health and substance abuse programs. The taxes on wine and distilled spirits remain unchanged at 28 cents per gallon on wine and 24 cents per gallon on spirits.

Overview

SELF-DISTRIBUTION
The American consumer should have access to the widest range of domestically produced beers made available by licensed breweries. The success or failure of a beer should depend on consumer demand, rather than artificial barriers to distribution.   The absence of a willing and/or viable wholesaler should not prevent a small brewer's products from reaching a retailer who is willing to sell them.

We support state laws that respect and enhance consumer choice in the marketplace. We believe that to provide the greatest ongoing choice for consumers, small brewers need the right to act as their own wholesaler and be allowed to distribute to retailers. Such brewers should be subject to all laws and taxes applicable to both brewers and wholesalers.

FRANCHISE LAWS / ACCESS TO MARKET
We believe that small brewers and wholesalers should be free to establish enforceable contracts between the parties that both parties agree are fair and equitable. Franchise laws were enacted to protect wholesalers from the undue bargaining power of their largest suppliers. Applying those laws to relations between small brewers and wholesalers is unfair and against free market principles.

Where franchise laws exist, we believe that any brewer contributing less than 20% of a wholesaler's volume should be exempted from those laws and free to establish a mutually beneficial contract with that wholesaler. Without the leverage inherent in being a large part of a wholesaler's business, a small brewer and wholesaler can negotiate a fair contract at arm's length.

INDEPENDENT WHOLESALERS
We support the independence of wholesalers and believe independent wholesalers are wholesalers who are contractually and economically free to allocate their efforts among the brands they sell without the undue influence of their largest suppliers.   Each brand gets the attention it deserves on its own merits in the marketplace.