With the 95th General Assembly failing to meet the May 31st deadline for adjournment, Illinois lawmakers enter into an overtime session without calling House Bill (HB) 429. HB 429 is the result of more than a year of negotiations between Groups representing Illinois wineries, out of state wineries, retailers and distributors. The group is calling on the House of Representatives to vote on the bill as soon as possible. HB 429 will allow Illinois to continue to regulate shipments of wine for both in-state and
out-of-state wineries and will bring Illinois into compliance with a May 2005 U.S. Supreme Court Decision.
During the spring 2006 legislative session, similar legislation (SB
2180) passed the Illinois Senate 52-0 but was never called to vote. This year, HB 429 passed out of the House Consumer Protection Committee on May 2, 2007. Despite hundreds of other bills passing the House, almost a month has passed and House members have still not been given the opportunity to vote on HB 429. Supporters are hoping that history doesn’t repeat itself.
“After achieving a broad based agreement, we were very optimistic that the bill would be called and moved into the Senate,” said Paul Renzaglia, IGGVA President. “The House needs to act so the issue of discrimination raised in the Supreme Court’s decision can be resolved and the Illinois wine industry can continue to grow.
The Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois (ABDI) led negotiations involving the Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association (IGGVA), Wine Institute, Wine and Spirit Distributors of Illinois (WSDI), Beverage Retailers Alliance of Illinois (BRAI) and Illinois Retailers Merchants Association (IRMA) seeking a compromise on the winery shipping bill. That compromise was reached when IRMA dropped its objections after language was
included in the compromise reaffirming that in-state retailers would be able to continue to operate as permitted under current Illinois law.
“All the parties to the agreement have worked very hard over the past year to get this legislation to this point,” said Bill Olson, president of the Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois.
If passed out of the House and approved by the Senate, HB 429 will bring Illinois into compliance with the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Graholm v. Heald — that ruled states may not discriminate by banning or severely limiting the shipment of wine by out-of-state wineries while allowing shipments of wine by in-state producers.
“We did what legislators asked us to do which was to negotiate a compromise. The uncertainty looming over us with Illinois remaining in default of the U.S. Supreme Court decision is troubling,” said Jerry Rosen, executive director of the Beverage Retailers Alliance of Illinois.
Under HB 429, wineries are permitted to ship up to 12 cases of wine per person per year after obtaining a winery shipper’s license. It also requires winery shippers to agree to Illinois regulatory jurisdiction and pay Illinois’ excise and sales taxes. The legislation also includes safeguards to prevent shipments to underage individuals and gives the Liquor Control Commission the power to conduct Internet stings and revoke the license of violators. In addition, it allows small wineries both in-state and out-of-state that produces less than 25,000 gallons of wine
per year to sell up to 5,000 gallons of their wines per year directly to retailers as a means to develop a market presence.
“We are Illinois businesses looking forward to putting this behind us and moving forward,” says Paul Jenkins, executive director of the Wine and Spirit Distributors of Illinois. “This bill is in the best interest of local businesses, wineries and consumers which is why I don’t understand why this is not being called to vote.”
The Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to developing the viticulture and enology interests of Illinois through information exchange and cooperation among Illinois grape producers and vintners. The Beverage Retailers Alliance of Illinois represents liquor retail package stores in Illinois. The Wine & Spirits Distributors of Illinois represents its member wholesalers who buy from producers and sell to retailers. The Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois is a not for profit business trade association that represents Illinois licensed beer distributors who sell, deliver and provide
customized inventory management of national and local beer brands to all Illinois licensed retailers. The Wine Institute is the voice for California wine.
[SOURCE: Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association]
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