Alabamians For Specialty Beer

This is the week for the Brewery Modernization Act and Homebrew bill

By Dan Roberts | Published: April 20, 2010

This is the final week of the legislative session in Montgomery. In dramatic fashion, the Brewery Modernization Act may come up on the second-to-last or last day of the 2010 session – this Wednesday or Thursday.

SB328 has already passed the Senate and should come up for a vote in the House this Wednesday or Thursday. After that, it goes to the Governor. Now is the time to contact your House Representative and tell them you support SB328, the Brewery Modernization Act. Please do this today. Send an email and/or call. We can’t guarantee you a vote – they haven’t yet finalized their agenda for those days – but we’re working on it and letting them know this is important to you will help. One thing we’ve proved over the years is that we can make a difference.

We are at the cusp of changing our second law to bring common sense and better beer to Alabama. We’re one easy vote away from a pro-business bill that will help grow the brewing industry in Alabama. One vote away from helping our local breweries compete in a nationally competitive industry.

If the House approves and the Governor signs off on this bill, our local breweries like Good People, Olde Towne, and Straight to Ale will be able to offer their fans tap rooms and events at the brewery. Our local brewpubs like Montgomery Brewing will be able to sell their beer outside of the brewpub. New breweries and brewpubs will have an incentive to open in your area as much of the restrictions placed on owning a brewery in Alabama will be reduced.

To learn more about why the Brewery Modernization Act is important to Alabama’s beer consumers, see this blog post. To learn what the current bill specifically changes, see this blog post.

Also, we have been following SB153, the Homebrew Legialization Bill. After an excruciating period of being held up in House committee, this bill may yet make it for its final vote this week along with the Brewery Modernization Act. This is an exciting development. Until very recently, most of this bill’s supporters considered this bill dead for the session. However, the chairman of the House Tourism and Travel Committee recently contacted our lobbyist and told him that he wanted our support to put Homebrew Legalization on the Special Order Calendar this week. He has it.

Tell your state Representative that you support these bills – SB328 (Brewery Modernization Act) and SB153 (Homebrew Legalization) and let me know if you receive any feedback.

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No more BIR vote this session

By Dan Roberts | Published: April 14, 2010

The General Fund Budget went to the Governor yesterday. That means no more Budget Isolation Resolutions. If you’re new to Alabama politics, the state constitution has this strange provision where no bills can be passed before the state budgets. The only way to vote on a bill before the budgets is if the chamber adopts a special “Budget Isolation Resolution” for the bill. A BIR requires a 3/5 supermajority. The result of this constitutional amendment is that most bills require a 3/5 supermajority to pass.

When the Brewery Modernization Act comes up in the House, however, we will only need a simple majority to pass. That’s the good news about coming up this late in the session. The bad news is that we expect to again be in the “pocket veto” range of the Governor. While we have no reason to suspect that Governor Riley will not sign our legislation into law, we may again call on you to call the Governor’s office to ask for support.

For now, let’s focus on the task at hand. We need to come up for a vote in the House next week and we need a voting majority to pass. If you haven’t touched base with your State Representative, it’s about that time.

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Brewery Modernization Act passes House committee… again

By Dan Roberts | Published: April 13, 2010

Our Senate flavor of the Brewery Modernization Act, SB328, passed out of the House Tourism and Travel Committee this morning without a hitch. This bill is now the substitute legislation. Since SB328 passed the Senate, we are now a House vote away from being sent to the Governor.

When can we expect a vote? That’s hard to say. We will get a second reading this afternoon when they’re in session, but we can’t be put on the regular calendar until the day after our second reading. We can’t be put on a special order calendar until we’re on the regular calendar.

Realistically, we don’t expect to have a shot until next week on either the 29th or 30th legislative day. The legislature is constitutionally required to only meet on 30 days in the year, and next week will be days 29 and 30. We at Free the Hops apparently like the dramatic. Expect an email next week asking you to melt the House phone system.

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Passing the Brewery Modernization Act

By Dan Roberts | Published: April 8, 2010

In order for a bill to become law, the same bill number must pass both the House and the Senate. It then goes to the Governor. We introduced two Brewery Modernization Act bills in the legislature this year – one in the Senate (SB328) and one in the House (HB406). Although they are the same bill, only one must make it through both chambers.

Since SB328 has already passed the Senate, it would be pointless to pass HB406 today. It wouldn’t really accomplish anything, so do not expect a House vote today. Instead, we are focusing on moving the Senate-passed SB328 to a House vote. Unfortunately, that takes a mandatory amount of time.

At this time, SB328 has received its first reading in the House, which just means it has been introduced to the second chamber, and has been assigned to the House Tourism and Travel Committee.  After the committee gives it a favorable report, it will be reintroduced to the full House, its second reading. After that, we have to wait at least one more day before the House can put us on the Special Order Calendar for final passage, its third reading.

These are procedural requirements mandated by the Alabama Constitution and adopted legislative rules. I can’t tell you exactly how long the process will take because it’s dependent on the Tourism and Travel Committee’s schedule and agenda. Our plan is to get Tourism and Travel to approve the bill when they meet before the session on Tuesday. We then have to wait at least one more legislative day before we can be placed on the Special Order Calendar. So the earliest possible date for a House vote is Thursday. Realistically, we may have to wait until the week after that.

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Follow up with your Senator

By Dan Roberts | Published: April 7, 2010

Thank you to everyone who called and emailed yesterday. I was cc’ed on several emails going to Senators and Representatives and also received a lot of email from supporters telling me that they called. And I know many more people called and emailed that didn’t tell me about it. That effort really does make a difference – your support is the only real power that Free the Hops has, and it works.

As I stated earlier, the Brewery Modernization Act passed the Alabama Senate. Know how your senator voted? I just put the votes into Lobbysoft so you can use the ‘find your legislator’ tool to find out. It should be the top-most vote for your senator.

Although it’s important to contact your legislators before they vote on an issue you care about, it’s also important to follow up with them. Make sure they realize you’re still paying attention. Do you like how they voted? Send a “Thank you” email. Do you not like how they voted? Let them know you’re disappointed and ask if they have a particular concern they want addressed.

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Brewery Modernization Act passes the Senate

By Dan Roberts | Published: April 6, 2010

The Brewery Modernization Act just passed the Senate in the most routine vote a Free the Hops bill has probably ever received. The Budget Isolation Resolution was passed using a “previous roll,” which means everyone just agreed to let it pass without a real vote. The substitute was adopted in similar fashion.

They took a full vote for final passage, but there was very little debate or discussion. The bill passed with 13 yes votes, 7 no votes, and 1 abstain. Once the information is available, we will update Lobbysoft so you can see how your senator voted.

This is a very exciting development! Once we pass the House, the bill goes to the Governor. I will have more updates later.

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In the Senate today?

By Dan Roberts | Published: April 6, 2010

Most of you should have gotten an email explaining that we should be in the Senate today. If you didn’t, you need to sign up for the newsletter. As of now, we have every indication that the Brewery Modernization Act will be on the agenda today in the Alabama Senate. Nothing is guaranteed, but we expect a vote.

If you haven’t contacted your state senator yet, please do so now. They convene at 1:00pm. After that time, it’s best to email.

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Brewery Modernization this week – time to melt the telephones!

By Stuart | Published: April 5, 2010

After all of the false starts while the legislature was dealing with bingo and other controversial issues, we finally have a chance at moving Brewery Modernization this week. Now that these issues are dealt with, it’s time to contact your legislator and advocate the Brewery Modernization Act! Please let us know if you hear anything back from them.

Let’s get Brewery Modernization done this year so we can all enjoy having local brewpubs and breweries!

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Why not have a beer at the brewery itself?

By Dan Roberts | Published: April 2, 2010

The Huntsville Times recently ran a piece about Huntsville’s new brewery, Straight to Ale. On the online comments, someone asked a very good question:

Why don’t any of these brewery’s here in Huntsville have a bar at the brewery itself. I would like to go and see the process and be able to have a beer right there instead of having to go to other bars to get it.

Other comments quickly answered that very good question – it’s illegal. Unfortunately, Alabama breweries like Straight to Ale, Olde Towne, and Good People aren’t allowed to sell beer at the brewery. Well, they can, but they have to be located in an historic building, in a county that had a brewery before 1919, and they have to have a restaurant that seats at least 80. Oh, and then they’re not allowed to sell their beer outside of their brewery. In order for Straight to Ale, Olde Towne, and Good People to have a tasting room, they have to pull all of their beer from your favorite stores, restaurants, and beer bars. Not a great option.

Fortunately, all that could start changing very soon. As I pointed out earlier, the Brewery Modernization Act should be voted on in the House and Senate next week!

The Brewery Modernization Act removes the historic building requirement, the historic county requirement, and the restaurant requirement for having on-premise sales at the brewery. Also importantly, it allows breweries with on-premise sales to continue their sales to wholesalers to be distributed to other bars, restaurants, and stores.

If you’re like the commenter and want to see tap rooms and more brewpubs in Alabama, help us change the law. It’s up for a vote next week. As always, we make it as simple on you as possible by providing a simple tool to help you find your senator and representative and their history with our legislation. Simply call or email your state senator and state representative and tell them you support The Brewery Modernization Act and want them to as well.

Free the Hops: Find your legislators

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Senate watch

By Dan Roberts | Published: April 2, 2010

This week the Alabama Senate passed the health care opt out bill and this year’s electronic bingo legislation. Does that eliminate all the controversy and hard feelings in that chamber? Of course not.

However, it does put us in a much better position to pass the Brewery Modernization Act in the Senate. The Senate next meets on Tuesday and we hope to be on the Special Order Calendar then. Of course there are not guarantees, but most of the potential road blocks appear to be out of the way. We’re also expecting a vote in the Alabama House of Representatives on Thursday. Again, there are no guarantees, but we’re on the draft calendar. The Alabama Constitution mandates that the legislature is to meet for only 30 days a year. Tuesday is the 25th legislative day. Thursday is the 26th.

If you’ve followed Free the Hops over the years, you realize this is nothing new. The Alabama legislature can be a roller coaster ride, but we’re doing everything we can to pass our agenda and help local breweries and brewpubs in Alabama.

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