For those who were listening in to the Senate audio last week, it will come as no surprise that we took the strategic decision to hold off on pressing the Gourmet Beer Bill. By the time the semi-filibuster was resolved, it was late in the evening and the Senators were all cranky, tired, and hungry.
In that kind of environment our Gourmet Beer Bill would not have had good odds.
Mark your calendars for Monday, May 19th. This is the last day of the legislative session. HB196, the Gourmet Beer Bill, will be on the calendar. Please call your senators over the next week, and very politely request them to support HB196, the Gourmet Beer Bill. You can call them whether or not you have done so already. You could also ask your friends, co-workers, family, neighbours, anyone you know who is not anti-alcohol – they, too can call their senators.
If you have family and friends who are out of state, get them to call as well – their opinion, and the tourist dollars that backs their opinion, are just as important to the senators as you and your opinion are.
If we all pull together, if we all rally our connections and contacts, we can achieve the aim we have been working towards for the last three years – we can start to Free those Hops from the chains of the archaic 6% ABV law. Let the Alabama Senate hear your voices loud and clear – let them hear the message –
FREE THE HOPS!
87 Comments
omg – it would be funny if they didnt take our money in order to put this show on
If you’re missing this, you’re not missing a damn thing.
Could someone please remind me why we thought we’d be on the agenda today? Did we really think we had a chance after what happened last time?
You can be the nicest person in the state, that still doesn’t mean you are a good senator eiter…
I started listening to the audio feed from the Senate earlier today, hoping to hear HB196 being presented to and voted on by our illustrious Senators. I realized pretty early on that this was not going to happen. I’ve continued to listen because I am amazed at the pompous, arrogant asses that we, somehow, have elected to represent our views in Montgomery.
I haven’t heard a single person who deserves to be called a statesman speak today. I’ve heard a lot of good-ole-boy backslapping, and a lot of people telling me how great they are. I’ve learned a lot about their grade school teachers, thier families, their lives.
None of them seem to care that they are our employees, and need to be mindful of our wishes. After all, they have been chosen by us to represent our views in the statewide legislative environment.
No one seems to have the ability, the gift, or even the desire to influence anyone else to come around to their way of thinking. No one even seems to be trying.
They seem to be of the opinion that if they pass the Education Trust Fund bill and finalize the budget, they can pat themselves on the back, say “good job” and head on home. But they don’t even seem to be getting that done. Meanwhile, hundreds of bills sit on the calendar, completely ignored.
I’m certainly not a political expert, but I do recognize incompetence and inefficiency when I see it.
I will be much more careful who I vote for next time around.
I’m giving up hope for beer in this state..
back to the scotch for for this one.
I am already writing my letters to my rep and senator, especially senator, to inform them that they will not be getting my vote next go around. This entire session has been an embarassment for this State.
Did anyone see this article in the Montgomery Advertiser on Saturday?
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008805170325
Gov. Riley is quoted, saying about our bill:
“I’m probably going to have a problem with that,” he told The Associated Press.
Do we have veto proof support in the Senate & House?
OK, if they don’t know the rules, then who would?
what the hell is a cloture petition????
This is exactly the reason after I finish school, I will NEVER return to this backwards state! Enjoy the brain drain politicians.
I cant get the audio working for some reason, but last I heard, they were petitioning to close the debate on HB319. The bill they’ve been talking about for the last 12 hours. Also, I believe when they actually get to the calender, that is when our guy asks to be added. But again, everyone will be pouty and in a bad mood and want to go home.
Yeah, bradpr, I read that article. Seems to be exactly opposite what he said a year or so ago. Course, he is a non-drinker.
What is going on…did it get put off again?
CLOTURE PETITION.
———————————————————————————————————–
Cloture Petition from the Rules Committee to end debate on HB 319 at 10:35 p.m.
Vote on cloture petition at 10:33 p.m.
This annoys me. You can bet I’m not going to be voting for any incumbent senator in the upcoming election. Someone said the senators were afraid to do anything to rock the boat during an election year…but their inaction, inefficiency, and downright foolhardiness combined to cost them a number of voters.
I dont care if the opponent runs on the platform of babies on spikes, these guys do not get my vote.
it is too late in the session to override a veto – if the gov does not sign…i will leave it to you to read that story and decide what you think he will do…then the bill is dead – this is why several of us were saying that it was not a good move at all to wait until the last day of session. not hindsight, just a basic knowledge of the way things work in mont.
Another stalling tactic. Now they want the entire budget bill to be read at length prior to a vote.
So, if they can’t get the bill read and the vote done by midnight, the bill dies. And the whole session becomes a complete waste of our money. Am I interpreting this correctly?
Anyone have a secret on getting the audio to work in Firefox?
Try hitting CTRL and refresh button on your browser at the same time.
you all need to get angry at your senators and representatives – they are the ones who wasted the whole session.
At least the House passed a bill…the same cannoy be said of the Senate. “Deliberative body” my @$$…all they did was waste the session, pass a few bills at the last minute, and then burn the entire last day with a filibuster.
I’ll be very glad to leave this state when I finish school; someone above already said as much, and I wholeheartedly agree.
Who decided to move the bill until the last day?
been busy last 30 minutes…
Anything happen?
Not a damn thing!
So much for that. Think I’ll settle down and have an ice cold Bud Light.
So we all need to make sure that, next year, we vote for anyone who either is
a) for this bill
b) not anti teenager buying $4+ a bottle of import/craft beer to get drunk
or c) who has served time for bludgeoning the hell out of our soon-to-be-former lobbyist who made the “critical decision” to move the bill to the last day of session, since that is OBVIOUSLY the way things get done in the senate.
Welcome to the political process in Alabama. The only way this bill is ever going to be successful is to hire a well known lobbyist (that costs lots of money) who has been around for years and is an “insider”. You then must actually give the Representatives a reason to actually want to pass your bill. Wanting to drink good beer you can’t get is not an appealing reason for a representative who constituents are 80% Baptist or Church of Christ. The goods must out wiegh the bads. With that being said, I think it is time that free the hops took an approach that suggested all the positives in terms of tax revenue, tourism, etc. to entice representitives to actually go on a limb to pass this bill through. From someone who has been there, very few people representing you in Montgomery care about craft beer. I would dare say noone who is representing you cares about craft beer.
My advice, push hard next year after the election is done with. After the election, if the bill is passed, the voters it the bill pisses off will have 2-4 years to forget about the fact it exists. This will make your representitive happy, we will be happy, and the baptist will be on to another topic.
Maybe we can take the money from the Magic City Brewfest, and actually do something with it…like find a new lobbitist or a different group to push the bill.
Why are we blaming the lobbyist? Were there ANY opportunities to get the bill passed? Did any far more popular bills, like the grocery tax, get passed? No lobbyist can overcome a dysfunctional legislature. You guys are kicking the man while he’s down.
I can’t believe it, but this might actually make me appreciate the US Congress.
thank you fth for caring enough about this to actually do something AND to actually hire a lobbyist……… yes, i wanted this bill to pass, but suffice it to say that if this was all left up to me and many of the others here just along for the ride, we would all just be sitting around wishing someone would do something about this ridiculous law.
Thanks to everyone at FreetheHops for trying. Please don’t give up. Keep fighting for us to get good beer in Alabama. Keep guiding us on what we can to do help you.
Thank you for giving it another try. 0/3 just means that going 1/4 or more will make it that much sweeter. I hope we get something done next session.
Unfortunately, there are way too many conservative & Christians who believe that all alcohol in this state is wrong.
What we need is more lushes in our state politics. Politicians that enjoy doing “bad” things.
If we only had some drunk Kennedys in our state, we might get somewhere
I think you’ll find that most of the politicians who are “lushes” are the ones who voice the most opposition to the these societal “vices” they decry. See Larry Craig, Ted Haggard, etc.
It shouldn’t be this hard to get something as basic and easy as this done. I mean, sales of 95% (190 proof) PGA and Everclear can be sold (a full bottle of which would kill even the most raging alcoholic)… and yet, you can’t buy beer that is 7% (14 proof). That is just simply retarded. It’s stupidly retardedly spastic. It’s nonsensical.