The “Empire Wine Bill” (version 2.0) passed in the New York State Senate on Friday, June 17th per the New York State Assembly website. The matching Assembly bill, A10248, passed earlier on June 15th. The summary of the Senate bill is as follows: Relates to clarifying the basis upon which the state liquor authority has…
Tag: wine bills
Empire Strikes Back: New Bill Appears in New York’s Senate and Assembly
Two new bills have been introduced to New York’s Senate and Assembly on May 12th and May 18th (respectively), sponsored by New York State Senator Phil Boyle and Assembly Member Philip Steck. The bills are very similar to the “Empire Wine Bill” that appeared in both the Senate and Assembly last…
Empire Wine Bills Delivered to Governor Cuomo
On November 30, 2015, the two talked about bills, A05920 and S04446, in New York’s Assembly and Senate were delivered to Governor Cuomo. A05920 was introduced to the Assembly in March of this year by Assemblyman Phil Steck and proposes to amend New York State’s alcohol beverage laws. See Bill Supports Empire Wine Sales; Bill Would Curb…
New York Legislature Amends Tax Law To Help Small Wineries
In recent news, the Assembly and Senate of New York both passed a bill to amend the state’s tax law. The bill proposed a change to the current law which would significantly help small wineries within the state. The summary of the bill provides that it “[e]xempts certain wineries from…
A Liberalization of Kansas Wine Law: Reduced Requirement for Grapes Grown in Kansas
In May 2012, Kansas approved a law that dramatically changed the regulation of its wine industry. The new state law, which spawned from House Bill 2689, reduces the requirement of the amount of Kansas grapes that must be in a Kansas wine. The bill amends K.S.A. 2011 Supp. 41-308a. Under…
Direct Shipment of Wine Could Soon be Allowed in Maryland
Note: There were several corrections made to this entry post-publication. The author would like to specifically point out that direct shipment is not yet allowed in Maryland, but it appears that direct shipment will soon be available in Maryland in the upcoming months. We apologize for any confusion the original…
H.R. 5034 is Now H.R. 1161
The bill many wine lovers feared last year, H.R. 5034 or the Comprehensive Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness Act (CARE), is now known as H.R. 1161, the Community Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness Act of 2011. The text of the 2011 Act is identical to the second version of H.R. 5034 introduced to the…
Maryland Border States Create Indirect Smuggling Routes for Direct Shipment of Wine
Today, The Washington Post published an interesting article regarding the state of Maryland, its surrounding constituents, and direct shipment laws. Maryland is presently a state that does not allow direct shipment of wine to consumers; therefore, to obtain wine, a customer must purchase it from a store or other retail…
Overdose on Michigan Wine Law
This past weekend, the state of Michigan hit wine law news on two very important, but separate accounts. Firstly, last Wednesday, the Michigan House and Senate passed legislation with respect to liquor control policy in the state. The Senate and the House both passed a bill that allows Michigan establishments to…
Georgetown’s Winery Initiative Passes
Last week, on November 2nd, Georgetown voters overwhelming approved the bill known as the Winery Initiative and removed alcohol restrictions that were previously characteristic of the town. Voters approved this initiative “with about 77.8 percent voting in favor of changing Georgetown’s liquor laws.” (See Georgetown Residents Affirm Liquor Law Change,asserting…