Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Local Breweries Rally for Support for New Bill with a Petition

Posted By on Tue, Jan 13, 2015 at 11:30 AM



The Arizona Craft Brewers Guild and local breweries like Dragoon have been soliciting Facebook followers and fans to sign a petition for the Arizona Beer Bill. The bill is looking to increase the current production limit placed on brewers so Arizona beer makers can try to compete with other breweries nationally.

Here's what the petition says in part:

The Arizona Beer Bill allows microbreweries to grow beyond the current 40,000 barrel limit without having to forfeit retail licenses they hold or let go employees. Doing so will promote growth in the industry while strengthening the three-tier regulatory system. The current microbrewery limits should be refined to reflect the incredible growth of this industry and the enormously positive economic impact of microbreweries. The Arizona Beer Bill ensures that microbreweries will not be penalized for their success.

According to the Arizona Beer Bill website, the bill's opponent is the Arizona Wine and Spirits Wholesale Association, which includes three of the state's beer, wine, and spirit wholesalers:

The AWSWA has cited concerns about how the bill would affect the integrity of the three-tier system, a concern they did not have when changes to the system last year positively affected farm wineries and microdistilleries, local industries that both the Guild and BWDA fully support. 

If you're interested in signing, you can view the petition online. Initial voting on the bill is likely to occur in late January or early February, according to the bill's website.

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