you can join the discussion on Facebook too, share it with your friends
http://www.facebook.com/pages/STOPHR5034/114589208561336?v=app_2309869772
As an explanation, this bill was written and put forward by the National Beer Wholesalers Association. It is supported strongly by the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers of America. It is supported by nearly every wine, beer and spirit wholesaler in America.
The bill basically repeals the 2005 Granholm v. Heald Supreme Court Decision. If passed, it means that a state with a discriminatory wine shipping law would not have to defend their law in court if challenged. They would no longer have to explain why there is no other non-discriminatory way of regulating direct shipping—which they had to do after the Granholm decision and never could do, hence the change in the laws.
It may not get out of committee. But consider, this the kind of bill that doesn’t get most citizen worked up. It flies under the radar. That means it gets pushed and pulled by insiders and lobbyists. That, in turn, means it could move quickly, often without much notice.
If you want to contact your congressperson and ask them not to support HB 5034, you can find their contact info at this page: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
If you want to read the bill you can do so here: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.5034" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;:
The STOP HR 5034 Facebook Page is here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/STOPHR5034/114589208561336?v=app_2347471856&ref=ts#!/pages/STOPHR5034/114589208561336?v=wall&ref=ts" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I’ve written about this bill here: http://www.fermentation.typepad.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Tom, wouldn’t it do more good to write to the members of the committee? Is there a list of those members easily accessible?
Alan:
YES, that is a good idea, but we have to wait for the bill to be assigned to a specific committee of the HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE. I’m pretty sure which one this will be, but we still have to wait. Then, it’s a good idea to start sending letters in advance of a hearing date.
We’ll keep you informed.
Tom…
Tom,
As an ex-retailer I am always somewhat confused at the specific relationship between this type of legislation and retail shipping to consumers. Generally these bills speak to winery shipping and not retail, but your involvement obviously underscores that the threat is the same for both.
Does this bill directly affect retail shipping too, or is it more that it can and will eventually?
My conclusion has always been that the wholesalers figure they’re getting their cut on most of the retail product shipped anyway, but I also remember that you may have once explained that the wholesale lobby is the one spending the bucks and they don’t want to offend their retail customers. Did I dream that up, or is that part of this story?
Thanks.
Peter,
Actually, the way this bill reads, it would assumes that states have always been able to discriminate against out of state retailers for any reason they want.
And in fact, currently it is only legal in 13 states to have an out of state wine retailer ship to you, whereas it’s currently legal in 37 states for wineries to ship in.
This legislation, where it refers directly to wine shipping, gives cynical lip service to winery shipping, but says nothing about retailer shipping. Wholesalers are 100% against retailer to consumer shipping.
SWRA is fighting this issue in court.
Tom…
These are the Reps that are co sponsoring this Bill ( H.R. 5034) .
I would suggest if you live in these states let them know your opposition and you & your friends will not support them if they support this bill.
Rep. Robert Andrews [D, NJ-1]
Rep. Jason Chaffetz [R, UT-3]
Rep. Howard Coble [R, NC-6]
Rep. Lincoln Davis [D, TN-4]
Rep. Bill Foster [D, IL-14]
Rep. Raymond Green [D, TX-29]
Rep. Rubén Hinojosa [D, TX-15]
Rep. Paul Hodes [D, NH-2]
Rep. Jesse Jackson [D, IL-2]
Rep. Walter Jones [R, NC-3]
Rep. Dale Kildee [D, MI-5]
Rep. Connie Mack [R, FL-14]
Rep. Michael McMahon [D, NY-13]
Rep. William Pascrell [D, NJ-8]
Rep. Mike Quigley [D, IL-5]
Rep. Thomas Rooney [R, FL-16]
Rep. Timothy Ryan [D, OH-17]
Rep. David Scott [D, GA-13]
Rep. Clifford Stearns [R, FL-6]
Rep. Betty Sutton [D, OH-13]
Rep. Addison Wilson [R, SC-2]
Bruce –
The Commerce Clause gives Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce, which includes permitting state regulation. Court decisions holding that under the Commerce Clause the States cannot regulate a particular subject always carry the implicit proviso “unless and until Congress says they can.”
Also, from what I have read of the proposed legislation (which is very little, so caveat lector), it may contain a court-stripping provision as well, which would either forbid the federal courts from hearing future cases challenging the validity of state alcohol control legislation or attempt to change the legal principles under which courts would resolve such challenges. The constitutionality of such court stripping legislation is a controversial subject.
– Matt
Interesting. I think most of those states are covered by distributors Southern plus the Texas boys: Glaziers and Republic.
A list of supplier participants from the recent WSWA convention.
http://www.eshow2000.com/wswa/pdf/suppliers.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Wine Bid and K & L recently stopped shipping to Texas. Glasiers and Republic will try to stop winery direct soon. Lawyers called it a victory for the citizens of Texas protecting us from dangeous goods.
Here is the Texas Appeals Court ruling
http://www.alcohollawreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/5thCricuitWineCountry.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
You wine drinking Texans need protection from wineries & retailers that are out of state. sheesh! ![[scratch.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/4/42a16863a8714da3c1604419e3eb9206bb87aa50.gif "scratch"){kind=small}
I sent a long note to Doc Hastings, my US Rep who has much of the Yakima and Columbia Valley area AVA’s in his district. Encourage anyone in WA to do the same. I will probably send similar to Napa and Central Coast Rep’s as a concerned supporter of wines (hence revenue) in their districts.
I was informed today that the Texas Rep. from District 29 is Gene Green not Raymond Green.
The “Stop H.R.5034” on Facebook posted an inquiry about starting a Wine Consumers Union , you can read more here and post your comments
5 more representatives have signed on to co sponsor this bill. I’ll list their names as soon as I get them. This makes 26.
Ted Poe (R-TX)
A little background on where this is coming from…
He is an ultra conservative bible thumper that doesn’t believe in any ETOH consumption. Yet, his major contributors from Harris county are the wholesale lobbyists.
Below are the additional Reps that have signed on as Co Sponsors of H.R. 5034. Please continue to write and call your Reps. We need to continue to voice our opposition as wine consumers, retailers & wineries
Rep Brayley (IA)
Rep. Hare (IL)
Rep Poe (TX)
Rep. Town (NY)
Rep. Holt (NJ)
You sure about Holt? He’s generally very rational.
This is the worst kind of bill in that it creates an unholy alliance between the moralist right-wingers and the government-as-nanny left-wingers.
As a town councilman who was caught in the middle of the debate over a ‘underaged drinking ordinance’ (which was all about opening up the front door without a warrant) I’ve dealt with this alliance before. They try to morally blackmail you with “don’t you care about the children” and lots of reps will be afraid to oppose.
I’m more concerned about the likelihood of this passing than some others.
(For those curious, I almost single-handedly killed the local ordinance (it failed by only one or two votes in the 36 member body)- but only after months of debate, when I offered the proposal to “indefinitely postpone,” which allowed people to vote “no” without actually voting “no” to the ordinance.)
This link shows 31 sponsors and Holt is on it. This is getting really ugly