Tuesday, February 7th, the 2012 regular session of the Alabama
Legislature will begin at 12pm. A Regular Session may consist of no
more than 30 Legislative Days within the framework of a 105-calendar
day period according to the Legislature’s home page.

Last year’s session convened March 1, 2011, and adjourned June 9,
2011 to give you a timeframe for this year’s session. Keep an eye on
the Legislature’s home page for live video, audio, bill status updates
and more.

If you do not know who your state representatives are then go to this
page on Free the Hops’ website which will also give you the voting history
on previous Free the Hops bills as well. Free the Hops will notify you
via email(s) when legislators need to be contacted politely expressing
your support of the “Gourmet Bottle Bill”.

The Gourmet Bottle Bill (“GBB”) or container size restriction is the
legislation that Free the Hops will propose in the 2012 Legislative
Session. Alabama is the only state that restricts single containers of
beer to 16 ounces or less. The GBB seeks to remove the restriction
that prevents Alabamians from purchasing, for example, 22oz and 750ml
bottles which many craft breweries currently package in. Wine is also
packaged in 750ml bottles and Free the Hops wants to eliminate the
distinction between wine and beer when it comes to container size.

A whole range of beers are excluded by this law. For example, Rogue
Ales sells a number of their beers in these two sizes only. Likewise,
Terrapin Brewing in Athens, GA, sells their popular special release
series called “Side Project” in 22 oz bottles only. Many Belgian
breweries such as St. Bernardus package many of their beers in 750ml
corked and caged bottles. These breweries distribute their beers in
Alabama, but they are unable to distribute their full line of beers
due to the container size restriction. Other examples of craft
breweries which will not consider sending any of their beers to
Alabama until the container size restriction is lifted include Dogfish
Head, Stone, New Belgium and Firestone Walker.

Alabama’s own Good People Brewing Company packaged a series of beers
called “County Line” in 22oz bottles but were unable to sell them in
Jefferson County where they are located, instead having to send them
to one county that does allow the sale of 22oz bottles.

We have all seen how the state’s economy has benefited from the
Gourmet Beer Bill and the Brewery Modernization Act. This bill will
impact the state in much the same way as Free the Hops’ two previous
successful bills.

For more information regarding the Gourmet Bottle Bill please visit
Free the Hops’ restriction page.

Alabama Homebrewing Legalization

Although Free the Hops is not directly involved, we will also update
you on the progress of a bill to legalize home brewing in our state.
Alabama and Mississippi are the only two states in the country that
make brewing beer at home a crime. Please visit Alabama Homebrewing:
Right to Brew for more information and to lend your support.

Birmingham’s Two Breweries Ask the University of Alabama to Stop the
Shepherd Bend Mine

Please visit this link to read the Black Warrior Riverkeeper’s
statement on the Shepherd Bend Mine including statements by Avondale
Brewing and Good People Brewing.

Just got official text message confirmation. Governor Bentley has signed SB192 into law. Tap rooms are now legal. Brewpubs can sell their beer off-site and be located in an economically distressed area. Rejoice!

Birmingham News: Alabama Governor Robert Bentley plans to sign beer bill into law.

An article in the Birmingham News confirms that Governor Bentley plan on signing SB192. A good read overall.

Here’s an interesting video from the folks at The Terminal. Shot during the Magic City Brewfest, it features interviews with some of the folks behind Avondale, Back Forty, and Good People, and what passage of the Brewery Modernization Act will mean to them and their businesses. To channel the president of Free the Hops – “It’s the biggest change in Alabama brewing laws since the repeal of prohibition.”

Tomorrow, we expect to hear that the Governor has signed this wonderful legislation into law.

If he signs it, it becomes law. If he doesn’t sign it by Thursday, it becomes law. If he votoes it, it takes a simple majority to override the Governor’s veto in Alabama, so it will become law. It seems like the Governor has no ability to hurt our bill. In my defense, I was trying to overcome this fear that Governor Bentley was so anti-alcohol that he wouldn’t let any of our bills become law.

So let me go the other direction – Governor Bentley does matter. Thursday is the last day the legislature meets. What if he vetoes it in the final moments of the legislative day and they don’t have time to override the veto? In that case, we’re dead. I don’t think the Governor will do that, so don’t freak out, but he does matter.

He also matters because he’s the Governor, and his choice will send a message about Alabama. We want Governor Bentley to sign this legislation. It’s basically all we’ve been working on since it passed the House. This Governor wants to be known as the “jobs” Governor, and this is a jobs bill.

So please don’t be complacent. Contact the Governor’s office and tell them you support SB192. It’s very simple to do. – if you call, tell the receptionist that you’re calling in support of SB192. She’ll say thank you. If you email or  fax, send a short message about why you think this bill should be signed by the Governor.

Switchboard: (334) 242-7100
Fax: (334) 353-0004
Web Contact Form

Regardless of how you contact, please remember to continue to be polite and respectful as your represent the interests of Free the Hops.

There is some confusion about when the Governor must sign or veto our legislation, and what happens if he does nothing. The Governor has until Thursday to sign or veto SB192. If he does neither by the time the legislature adjourns, it will become law because the bill was passed before the pocket veto was an option.

If you really want the details after counting to six and thinking the deadline should be tomorrow, read on.

The legislature will be in recess tomorrow, so the Alabama Constitution says he gets an extension to the six-day deadline. The extension is for two days after they re-assemble. They reassemble on Thursday.

Now you’re counting to two and thinking the deadline should be Saturday.  However, the legislature will be constitutionally required to adjourn for the year after they meet on Thursday. There’s actually case law about what happens in a situation like this. Basically, the Alabama Supreme Court has said that the Governor has a two day extension or as much time as he can get before the legislature adjourns. So he has to sign or veto SB192 on Thursday, the last legislative day, or it becomes law without his signature.

All of this is academic anyway. The Governor will sign this economic development bill as long as we keep calling and emailing. So keep it up!

Pretty quick this time. Representative Joe Hubbard introduced us on the floor.

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To be honest, we don’t really have much indication on what course of action the Governor is going to take once SB192 gets to his desk. There is a lot of speculation and armchair political consulting flying around. We don’t expect a veto, but I can’t definitively tell you that it won’t happen. In the end, Governor Bentley has three options:

He can sign it. This would be great, and we are working to make it happen. The bill will immediately become law upon his signature. We want Governor Bentley to explicitly approve this economic development bill. Our legislative sponsor, Senator Holtzclaw, also wants him to sign it into law.

He can not sign it. This isn’t so bad either. If Governor Bentley does not sign or veto the bill in six days (excluding Sundays), it becomes law without his signature.

He can veto it. This is the worst thing he could do, but it’s really not so terrible. If Governor Bentley vetoes SB192, it will be sent back to the legislature. In Alabama, it takes a simple majority to override the Governor’s veto. We already passed the Senate 24-5 and the House 58-25, so a simple majority isn’t a big problem.

The Senate just concurred with the House changes to SB192 with a 19-6 vote. The bill is now ready to be sent to the Governor.