The response to my email to the governor of Illinois about this statute exemplifying corruption in his state and how this is the reason his state is the butt of so many jokes.
Dear Jay,
I appreciate you taking the time to reach out to my office with a suggestion for the state. My staff has received your idea and is reviewing it. Hearing ideas from the people in Illinois gives me a better idea of what is impacting local communities across the state.
It is important we all work together and listen to all ideas on how to improve Illinois. Please feel free to contact me in the future. My office numbers are (217) 782-0244 and (312) 814-2121.
If I remember correctly from discussions back when Florida was a felony state for wine shipments the main concern was that many states prevent anyone with a felony conviction from holding a license to sell alcohol. But that was a long time ago.
I could be misinterpreting or remembering wrong, but I recall not very long ago New York state made a good try at criminalizing wine stores which shipped to other states with restrictions.
Theoretically, couldn’t folks in Chicago just have their wine shipped to a UPS Store and held for pickup right across the border in IN? Maybe not a fix for the whole state, but shouldn’t be too much of a hassle for some folks. And yes, agree with the sentiments of all…this law is just plain ridiculous on many fronts.
It’s not even theoretical, I’ve been doing this for a couple of years now. Some retailers got spooked out of Illinois by Steven Diamond and his infamous Qui Tam whistleblower cases over the past few years. I work in Wisconsin, but I live in the western suburbs of Chicago. Whenever I make a purchase from BPW, K&L, Last Bottle, etc, I just coordinate shipping with my work schedule and pick it up from FedEx in Racine WI on my way home.
There’s nothing in the law about an individual transporting alcohol into the state for personal use. This is all about direct shipping from winery or retailer to consumer. If that shipment takes place in another state, I find no language in the text of the law that would prevent an individual from bringing it into Illinois.
We’re broke, we’re going for the record for murders in a year, and this is what our legislators are working on. I fired off an email to my rep but I’m sure it’s in vain. They vote as Madigan tells them to.
I just got that too. The dirty bastards in this crappy state! That shut off a good source of wines at good prices, including my go-to champagne.
The thing that’s been mentioned about shipping across the border and picking it up there only makes sense in very limited circumstances. For the most part, the cost of getting to the pick up location is just plain too expensive, adding a per-bottle cost that would eliminate any cost savings that may have been available from buying out of state.
My guess is the law doesn’t need to say that. Lots of people have faced the wrath of the law trying to go around the system. If the consumer LIVES in IL, shipping to another state won’t be magical if the state chooses to pursue.
Ben is correct that this has nothing to do with a resident acquiring a wine out of state and bringing it in themselves. These laws are about collecting sales taxes. Since retailers are the mechanism for collecting sales taxes for the most part, these laws are to prevent product coming into the state without the taxes being paid. However, there’s a place on my state income tax return for me to declare purchases made out of state and for me to pay taxes on those purchases. So an Illinois resident purchasing from out of state, having it shipped to Wisconsin, and then bringing it in themselves would not be violating any law unless they didn’t declare that purchase on their income tax return and paying the resulting tax.
Goodbye, WTSO. It’s been nice knowing you. Even though your offerings have become increasingly “meh” over the years, you have provided some welcome additions to my cellar from time to time.
"Dear Barry,
We are deeply sorry to inform you that due to state regulations we are unable to ship to the state of Illinois at this time.
Bumping this question after reading some of the concerning comments on the K&L thread. As things stand in IL, how might this situation affect shipments to IL from out-of-state Berserkerday sellers? Would wineries (rather than retailers) be able to ship to IL, or would this be a blanket prohibition?
Wineries are safe because Illinois has thus far abided by the 2005 Supreme Court ruling on the issue, and therefore the wineries can apply for and receive Direct To Consumer permits in illinois. The current legal case in Illinois is trying to expand on the 2005 case, and the plaintiffs are making the argument that retailers should be treated the same as wineries.
So yes, wineries should be safe regardless of the outcome.
What other laws are on the books in IL prohibiting an individual from bringing alcohol in from out-of-state, and how strictly are they enforced? Many years ago PA and MD had campaigns to stop people driving into the state on their return from an over-the-border liquor store.
I’ve heard that groups used to collectively share a UPS box and pickup chores in VA and WV during the days when wineries were not allowed to ship to MD. At one point UPS even started confiscating wine shipped from CA to WV as it passed through their Hagerstown MD distribution center.
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