This is a little late, but the Senate flavor of our Brewery Modernization Act was introduce to the State Senate last week.

SB192 is sponsored by Senator Bill Holtzclaw (R-Madison) with a host of cosponsors including Senators Tom Whatley (R-Auburn), Paul Sanford (R-Huntsville), Del Marsh (R-Anniston), Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro), and Rodger Smitherman (D-Birmingham).

The Republican caucus in the Alabama Senate and House, now in the majority party for both chambers, chose their nominees for Senate Pro Tem and House Speaker recently. This is one of the major reasons why political parties want a majority. As a caucus, they decide who they will support for these positions as a majority vote. Later on in the organizational session, the caucus votes unanimously for their nominee.

So barring something unprecedented, here are our new legislative leaders:

Senate President Pro Tempore
Senator Del Marsh (R-Anniston)

Senator Marsh has been on the Tourism and Marketing Committee, which has consistently voted in favor of our bills, since we first introduced the Gourmet Beer Bill. He has voted in favor of the Gourmet Beer Bill and Homebrew Legalization, and FTH members in his district report that he is responsive to their communication.

Speaker of the House
Representative Mike Hubbard (R-Auburn)

Since 2007, FTH members have relayed to us that Representative Hubbard supports our legislation, and he has consistently voted in favor of the Gourmet Beer Bill. Hubbard also completed the 2010 FTH Candidate Survey and reported that he supported raising the container size restriction, homebrew legalization, and the Brewery Modernization Act.

As I indicated previously, the big changes in Alabama politics should not cause worry about the future of beer legislation in Alabama. We hope to continue our relationships with and support from the new leaders of the Alabama legislature and all the legislators who are returning to Montgomery. As we begin to approach the 2011 regular session, we hope our members and supporters will help us introduce the newly-elected members to our cause.

You’ve probably heard by now. The next Governor consistently voted against Free the Hops legislation as a state representative. Also, both chambers of the Alabama legislature have switched control from a Democratic majority to a Republican majority.  This means that the leadership in the Alabama Senate and Alabama House will shift to the GOP.

Free the Hops has never given endorsements in state elections – we’ll work with the members the people choose for us to work with. And there’s no reason to worry too much about how this change will affect beer legislation for the next four years.

For Governor-elect Robert Bentley, being a No vote in the legislature is a lot different than being a veto as Governor. During a radio interview in north Alabama during the primary, Bentley indicated to the listening audience that he would not have vetoed the Gourmet Beer Bill had it been sent to his desk as Governor. While he was personally against one of our issues in the legislature, he did not think his opposition rose to the level of veto. Also remember that a veto in Alabama has little weight. A simple majority can override a veto – it’s harder to pass a bill in Alabama than it is to override a veto. Most bills effectively take a 60% super majority in order to pass. A veto simply takes 50% plus 1.

As for the legislature, there’s no reason yet to assume that a change in leadership and majority will negatively affect our agenda. We don’t yet know who the new Senate Pro Tem or Rules Chair will be, but many of the front runners have been friendly to Free the Hops bills in the past. The presumed House Speaker, Mike Hubbard, is a supporter.

We are very interested in how the new makeup of state politics will affect beer legislation in Montgomery, and we will be monitoring things very closely in the next few months.

The Senate failed to do anything significant today and were still locked down in filibuster over the national health care opt out bill. No Brewery Modernization Act vote today.

It’s starting to become an old story. We’re so close yet something gets in the way.

The Brewery Modernization Act was the 8th bill on the Special Order Calendar today, ahead of 7 pieces of legislation that didn’t seem to have much controversy. It looked like we wouldn’t have a problem.

Unfortunately, a filibuster started after the calendar was released. The filibuster had nothing to do with our bill. It didn’t even have anything to do with another bill on the special order calendar. It had to do with the special order calendar itself. One group of senators wanted the chamber to consider a “national healthcare opt out” bill before all other legislation. When their attempt to amend the agenda failed, they started a filibuster. None of the bills on the special order calendar were voted on today.

We hope to try again Thursday.

The Senate tends to be seat-of-the-pants. A few minutes ago we got word that the Brewery Modernization Act is going to be the 8th bill on the Special Order Calendar of the Senate today.

If you haven’t expressed your support of the Brewery Modernization Act, now is the time to do so. The best way to find out about your Senator is to go here – http://www.freethehops.org/legislative/. Remember to contact your Senator and tell them you support SB328.

Since they’re already in the chamber, they won’t answer their cell phones if you call. However, they can read texts and emails on their phones or laptops. So email would probably be the best way to reach them. After email, calling their State House number is best since they might get the msg via Senate page or might have a small break before our bill comes up.

Our Senate flavor of the Brewery Modernization Act, SB328, passed out of the Senate Tourism and Marketing Committee quietly yesterday. It will likely be re-introduced to the full Senate tomorrow.

Also of interest, SB153, the Homebrew Legalization bill, passed out of the same committee and received its second reading in the Senate.

SB328, our Senate flavor of the Brewery Modernization Act, was introduced by Senator Bobby Singleton yesterday. Senator Singleton, a Democrat from Greensboro, was our sponsor last year when we finally passed the Senate.

As I stated earlier, the Senate passed no bills yesterday. The reason for no new business was because the Senate spent the day debating a $1 billion road bill. We do not expect a first reading in the Senate until after that deadlock is resolved.

For those interested in learning more about the dynamics of the Senate activity, I highly recommend Doc’s Political Parlor as one of the best blogs about Montgomery politics. Doc’s regularly features guest legislators who blog during the session in his Legislative Dispatch section. For 2010, Senators Steve French (R) and Zeb Little (D) as well as Representatives Ken Guin (D) and Cam Ward (R) will be blogging about the session. For those new to following state politics, that’s a pretty impressive bipartisan list of legislative leaders in Alabama.