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.
HB406 passes House committee
Apparently almost everyone with posting privileges was in Montgomery advocating for our bill, so sorry this is late. HB406, The Brewery Modernization Act, received a favorable report from the House Committee on Tourism and Travel this afternoon after a public hearing. Our sponsor, Representative Oliver Robinson, introduced the bill. Free the Hop members Stuart Carter, yours truly, Joseph Baker, and Braden Pittman as well as attorney and entrepreneur John Little spoke in favor of the legislation.
ALCAP lobbyists Joe Godfrey and Brother Dan were the only ones to speak against the bill. I would like to point out that although we are almost completely opposed on issues of beer laws with ALCAP, they have always been respectful and polite at these committee meetings. Having said that, their arguments against us were the same arguments they’ve had against all of our legislation.
So now we go to the House floor and wait to get on the calendar.
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Brewery Modernization Act hearing
The Brewery Modernization Act will be discussed in the House Committee on Tourism and Travel this Wednesday, February 3, at 1:30PM. If it gets a favorable report from committee, it will go back to the full House where it will wait for a full vote. We expect to have at least one Free the Hops member at the committee to speak in favor of the bill.
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A Senate update
Tomorrow will be the 6th of 30 legislative days in the 2010 session, and our Senate bill has still not been introduced. No bills have been introduced since day 3 because of the debate over the $1 billion road project proposal.
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Talking Points
I think we got a little spoiled with the Gourmet Beer Bill. By the fourth year of advocacy, everyone knew what we wanted and why we wanted it. It was also a fairly simple measure. With the Gourmet Beer Bill, we spent most of our time combating misconceptions. For the Brewery Modernization Act, much of our effort is spent explaining a relatively complex bill.
It’s not as complex as many instruments that the legislature deals with. It’s not a state budget, for example. However, the Gourmet Beer Bill simply changed a “6%” to a “13.9%.” The Brewery Modernization Act has a little bit more to it.
To help us explain the issue to legislators, media and the public, we’ve developed the following Talking Points:
Talking Points – Brewery Modernization Act[pdf]
Have a look. Let us know what you think.
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Press about our 2010 Agenda
Birmingham News: Alabama bill aims to help brewpubs through deregulation.
I really like this part:
Roberts said lifting the restrictions would create economic development opportunities for brewpubs and breweries to grow in the state. “It’s really about making an environment more friendly for business, which ordinarily we would all be in favor of.”
Although the Brewery Modernization Act is about beer in a way, it’s more about business. We’re not making beer more available and we’re not asking for beers with more alcohol. We simply want more breweries to come from Alabama entrepreneurs.
We’ve come to realize that there are a lot of craft beer drinkers in this state – people who enjoy good beer. They’re already buying it at retail locations all around Alabama. All we want to see is more of that money going to businesses in Alabama instead of businesses in Colorado, California, or Munich. We want the Alabama brewing industry to thrive in an increasingly competitive market. To do that, we need the Brewery Modernization Act.
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What’s up in 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.
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Support HB406
The Brewery Modernization Act was introduced into the House today – HB406 sponsored by Representative Oliver Robinson of Birmingham. No new bills were introduced in the Senate today, so expect our companion Senate bill next week.
People always ask how they can help, and I can’t stress this enough – the best way to help is to advocate for our bill with your own legislators! Individual phone calls and emails really do make a difference. I think we showed how powerful they can be last year. Remember that the Alabama legislators represent small communities. While US Congressmen represent several hundred thousand constituents, state legislators represent only a few thousand in small communities throughout Alabama. They are generally accessible and are open to listen directly to you. State representatives often list their home phone number so that you can easily reach them.
Like last year, we at Free the Hops have a tool that will help you find your legislators and learn about their record with Free the Hops and their position on the Brewery Modernization Act.
Go to that page, enter your address, and you can learn who your legislators are and their historic and current support for our legislation. Then please contact your Representative (on the right-hand side) and tell them you want them to support HB406: The Brewery Modernization Act, sponsored by Oliver Robinson.
You will likely find that your senator and representative are either Unknown, Leans Yes, or Leans No on the Brewery Modernization Act. The Leaners are all based on my best guess. The Unknowns are where I didn’t feel comfortable making a guess. The very few supporters are either our sponsors or legislators I have personally contacted and heard back from.
The position estimates are currently soft because we haven’t yet heard from you. The majority of our estimates of support come from our members and other supporters who have called or emailed their legislators and reported back to us. Our progress really does depend on your activism.
So please contact your State Representative and help us pass the Brewery Modernization Act. And if you hear back from them, let us know so we can track our support in the Alabama legislature.
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The Brewery Modernization Act
As promised, here is the text of the Brewery Modernization Act as we currently intend to introduce it:
The Brewery Modernization Act [pdf] (41KB)
We will not have the House or Senate bill numbers until the bill has had its first reading in either chamber.
The bill is fairly easy to understand, even in the legalese it’s written in. Basically, we’re amending the “Alabama Brewpub Act” of the early 1990s to the “Brewery Modernization Act” of 2010 to be more expansive in scope. Instead of applying to a special class of breweries known as brewpubs, the new act will apply to any “premises upon which beer is manufactured or brewed.”
If passed, breweries can sell on-premises like a brewpub, or to wholesalers, or to both. Although the breweries must be licensed, they do not need to be located in an historic building, have no production cap, and can be located in any wet county or city. There is also no requirement for a brewery to operate a restaurant in order to sell beer on-premises, although they certainly can and many probably will.
The final portion of the Brewery Modernization Act includes a legislative intent. Although not required, it was included in the previous “Alabama Brewpub Act,” so we thought it was appropriate to update:
The Legislature finds that it is in the best interest of the public welfare of the State of Alabama to promote the growth of the state’s brewing industry. Eighteen years after the passage of the Alabama Brewpub Act, only two brewpubs are currently in operation in the state, and there are only two breweries distributing beer via wholesalers. These beer producers are subjected to extensive regulations and limitations not imposed on Alabama wineries. In the interest of justice and promoting local industry in the state, the Legislature finds an effective way to assist these small businesses is to grant them some of the same privileges enjoyed by the state’s wineries.
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It’s the economy
While we wait for the text and bill number of the Brewery Modernization Act, allow me to take a moment to give a talking point about our 2010 agenda.
Although there will doubtless be opponents to our bill, the Brewery Modernization Act will not increase the availability, portability, or strength of beer in any way. It’s only effect would be more local breweries which means that more beer, in areas where beer is already sold, will come from Alabama breweries instead of being imported from other states and countries. There is more of an in-state economic benefit for buying local beer – not only does an in-state retailer get paid, an in-state brewery does as well.
I’m not going to make the claim that the Brewery Modernization Act will save the economy, but I will claim that it can only help and that it will not cost the state a penny. In fact, it will generate state revenue in the form of fees and taxes. If we assume a dozen new breweries open up in Alabama as a result of this bill, that’s $12,000 annually in licensing fees alone. A dozen new breweries would put us about on par with the brewing industry of South Carolina which has a similar culture and population as Alabama. In addition to the licensing fees, there are also the business taxes, the embedded alcohol taxes, the sales taxes, the income taxes of the employees, and the list goes on. (This isn’t an anti-tax rant I promise).
I don’t want to mislead anyone. In the grand scheme of the state economy at-large, I do not expect the Brewery Modernization Act to be a significant boom. However, for the would-be brewery owners and their employees it would mean a viable business and a paycheck. For the beer distributors and retailers around the state, it would mean new products to offer their customers. For the rest of us, it means more local beer choices and the further emergence of beer culture.
And for all of this benefit, we’re only asking the state to make the law more business-friendly to Alabama’s current and potential local breweries. No new state agency needs to be created, no new ABC agents need be hired. The current regulatory structure is more than adequate. Isn’t this legislation just common sense?
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