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News & ArtsFriday, August 27, 2010
Politics Beer and Wine Groups Donate $2 Million to Oppose Liquor Initiatives
Posted by Cienna Madrid on Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 3:16 PM
State and national beer and wine interest groups are throwing their weight behind the campaign seeking to stop the privatization of state liquor sales. Two initiatives are slated for the November ballot, I-1100 and I-1105, that would kick the state out of the liquor business and allow stores that currently sell beer and wine—like grocery and convenience stores—to also carry liquor. Obviously, that would mean liquor would be competing with beer and wine on store shelves.
In the last week, the National Beer Wholesalers Association and the Washington Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association have contributed $1 million each to Protect Our Communities, the group opposing both initiatives, according to recent reports from the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission.
"These initiatives have huge implications for craft brewing, microbreweries, and wineries," says Sandeep Kaushik, a spokesman for Protect Our Communities. "They're threatened by these initiatives. The craft brewers oppose I-1100, especially. They see themselves pushed off the shelves."
Small-scale Washington wineries in the state echo this concern. They say that if I-1100 passes, selection will be choked out in favor of volume, which is why they’re opposing the initiative. “It repeals all current wine distribution laws that significantly impact small wineries,” explains Annie McGrath, spokeswoman for the Washington Wine Institute (WWI). “We’ve got some pretty great laws on the books for wineries that open up access for small guys to get into the marketplace—a retailer can’t require a winery to pay for shelf space or advertising or menu printing, for example. This initiative repeals all these key protections.” (On the bright side, you’d be able to buy a bathtub full of E.&J. Gallo at Costco for a song.)
McGrath adds that the WWI doesn’t have a position on I-1105 because it wold leave all those protections in place. “For us, this isn’t about privatizing liquor, it’s about losing businesses.” I-1100 would also repeal a state ban on bulk discounts of liquor, wine, and beer, a discount that puts small businesses at an industry disadvantage. The Washington Brewer’s Guild calls I-1100 “the greatest threat the Washington craft brewing industry has experienced in a decade.”
Protect our Communities has also received healthy support from labor and union groups, who oppose the loss of nearly 900 state liquor store jobs if either initiative passes.
1
Nor them puking all over the sidewalks and peeing on people's cars.
2
7
The point that everyone will vote for is the ability to go buy a bottle of liquor at more rational hours, and for example at more than 2 (?) places downtown.
8
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/204…
Wine & beer supermarkets. Like it or not, booze is our culture globally and has been for thousands of years. Puritans go home.
9
And fuck'in hell, the name "Protect Our Communities" makes me wanna projectile vomit the Basil Haden I bought from the corner store.
10
Sometimes it's worth understanding the implications of legislation before issuing a knee-jerk reaction. (Which is why it's often worth voting against initiatives drafted on a cocktail napkin by interested parties.)
11
But it's pointless to fight these initiatives. People love buying cheap crap at Walmart and Costco.
13
So, having free market economics will benefit my few purchases.
14
15
@10
1105 was written and financed by distributors who want to maintain their current monopoly. Two distributors alone, The Odom Corporation and Young's, have contributed around $2,000,000 to 1105.
16
But my son agrees with Fnarf.
I'll have to disinherit him.
Cider for the win!
20
In this tough economy, we would better off buying low-cost booze at Costco and dining, drinking, listening to music, and socializing at home rather than spending money in bars and clubs. We should apply the savings to reducing our debt; deleveraging, they call it. It's part of what they call "the new normal." :)
21
@4,Rogue Ales has a wide variety of craft beer if you are so minded.
22
They do have a year or two before the law takes effect to work on not sucking so badly. Maybe they'll come up with something good.
I personally don't think the State should be in the liquor business. But I also think we need a rational, fair, well thought out way forward, not one driven completely by a couple of large retailers like I-1100, or driven by a couple of large distributors like I-1105. Both are the wrong way out of the current mess and will make liquor distribution in Washington even worse than it is now.
The bummer of course is that the politicians in this state have failed to do their jobs and reform the WSLCB, and the many completely stupid laws we have on the books regarding liquor sales. This mess, in the end, is the result of a complete lack of leadership in the State House and Senate. I hope someone there steps up to take this issue on whether or not these initiatives pass.
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