Bill Allows Wine Retailers to Ship to Texas

WINE TALK
41

interesting. I’m not surprised there are more complexities than I’m aware.

42

Yep - I tried ordering wines from a place in Austin and they said they could not ship to Dallas. We need this bill to pass! [cheers.gif]

43

The Texas wine shipping bill has been assigned to a committee…Finally.

This is when the inside battle begins. Wholesalers will be lobbying the committee chair to NOT schedule a hearing. Without a hearing the bill will simply die. The short term goal now is to get a hearing scheduled.

ALSO, IF YOU LIVE IN TEXAS AND THINK YOU WOULD BE WILLING TO COME TO AUSTIN TO TESTIFY IN FAVOR OF THE BILL AS A CONSUMER WHEN A HEARING IS SCHEDULED…PLEASE EMAIL ME: tom@nawr.org

Here is an information page on the Texas Bill that is updated regularly, has access to the language and more:

44

So do we contact the head of the committee?

45

Here’s what I’m recommending Texans do now:

  1. Call or Email your state representative (Who Represents Me?) and ask them to support the bill. Tell them why they ought to support the bill.

  2. Send an email to your friends and colleagues in TX who you think would support the bill and ask them to do #1.

  3. Email (Texas House of Representatives : E-Mail Rep. Kuempel, John) or call (512) 463-0602) Rep. John Kuempel, Chairman of the House Licensing & Administrative Procedures Committee and ask him to schedule a hearing on HB 2291, the wine shipping bill.

NAWR is in the process of creating a web page that gives TX wine consumers a vehicle to express themselves in this bill and keep up-to-date.

46

Done. Thanks Tom. I also emailed you in the event that I can provide some local help in Austin.

47

Any updates on this proposed bill?

48

We are awaiting the chairman of the House Licensing and Administrative Procedures committee to schedule a hearin on the bill.

In the meantime, http://www.winefreedom.org has been launched to provide information to consumers. Additionally, outreach to the media is underway.

49

ALERT the media! I received a call from my representative yesterday, I had called and spoken to both his assistant and his legislative aid during this process, but he himself called and said the hearing is scheduled for Monday. I ask point blank if he felt like the lobbying pressure had increased he said ‘they haven’t been by here yet, but yea I’ve heard from colleagues that they have been to their offices, in my experience their will be an uptick beginning Monday’. He also said the clock was really against it as well. Not ten minutes later I also received a call from Matt Rinaldi’s legislative aid he wanted to mention the hearing was Monday. Ten minutes after that I got an email from Zachys about the hearing.
Let’s all hope for the best.
Tom, thanks for all your efforts

50

Good luck!

51

Fingers crossed!

52

Signed the petition and will hope for the best. Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

53

We need more people to sign the petition

54

We worked very hard to get a hearing on this bill and got lots of folks to contact the right people. The hearing on Monday will hang entirely on whether we can get consumers to show up and speak. I’ll be there and I have a particular grasp of the issue, but I’m not a Texan nor a constituent.

It should be interesting.

Tom…

55

Tom if there was any way I’d be be there. For years (out of boredom) I kept a spreadsheet of all the deals I missed out on, it was thousands of dollars obviously, I lost it on an old iPad-I knew I should have kept that damned thing. But one is burned in my mind, after James McPhails Sequanna wines was defunct a guy here on commerce corner was offering closeouts for $10.00 a bottle but he couldn’t ship to Texas. Feel free to relate that story.
Tom, for what it’s worth, in my discussions with the people/staff in Austin the thing that really resonated and shocked them was the fact that I can go to Southebys and win wine at auction then not be able to get it back to Texas-they really thought that was unfair, you might mention that.

Hey, I found it! Neal would be so proud of my use of the search function.

56

think it is county only. It is how package store call sell to bars, now there is a total scam. Makes it a fourth tier to selling spirits. As a startup small distributor, I have no problem with this. Actually knocks a leg out from the big guys. My main differentiator is service to my clients, not exclusivity of wine.

you can review the TABC licences here: https://www.tabc.state.tx.us/forms/licensing.asp

57

In 2008, when Texas was being sued for its discriminatory treatment of out of state wine stores, the Texas Legislature passed a law that allowed Texas package stores to only ship wine within their county. it was an attempt to make the lawsuit against the state moot.

The current bill being heard on Monday would allow Texas Package stores and out of state retailers to ship anywhere in Texas. Additionally, it would allow out of state breweries to ship beer to TEXANS and it would remove the limits on how much wine could be shipped to a Texan from an out of state source.

I spoke with the bills sponsor today and was told that when the chairman of the committee scheduled the hearing, he got a big earful from Texas wholesalers who never wanted to see the bill get a hearing.

The bill is a long shot given the opposition, but getting a hearing is a huge victory that will set things up for another attempt during the next session if it does not pass this year.

Everyone’s support for this effort is greatly appreciated.

58

How obvious does this have to get before you can ask for an investigation into corruption. Note air of sarcasm and resignation. Sigh.

59

Alan, the so called big two, Glazers and Republic will throw everything they have at this to make it go away. Sounds like first they try money, then they resort to bullying and threats to fund opponents campaigns etc. as I posted above my rep said the real pressure will begin Monday. Rinaldi (the bills sponsor) either actually has a sense of right and wrong, is one of us, or knows someone very well who is.

60

The sponsor of the bill is an interesting guy.

Rep Matt Rinaldi filed the bill on his own because upon hearing about the restrictions on Texans receiving shipments of wine he was literally ideologically and philosophically offended. He’s not a big wine guy at all. He’s among the most conservative lawmakers in Texas. He heard about the restriction from a constituent, started to investigate the laws and decided to file a bill on his own with no co sponsors. It’s a pretty rare thing in my experience.

He has impressed upon me that in testimony I must stress the protectionist, anti-competitive nature and anti-free trade qualities of the current law.

Cheers,
Tom…