[denny]

Boy, all this is really good news!

[bayoubrew]

HB503 http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=684299 has been filed in Louisiana.  La. residents should contact Rep. Cedric Richmond (504)242-4198 who is the chair of the Judiciary Commitee to let him know that we would like to see this bill read at the Committee's earliest meeting, and that we support moving the bill on to a full floor vote.

Cheers,
Mike

[Gary Glass]

The Oklahoma homebrew bill passed the Senate Business and Labor committee today.  Next stop is the Senate floor for a vote before the full Senate.  The current bill has been amended to clean up the language a bit, so if it does pass the Senate, it will still need to go back to the House for a vote on the amended version (the bill's House sponsor is cool with the amendment, so that shouldn't be a problem, so long as it's not further amended before it passes the Senate).

The Brewers Association's March Government Affairs updates for the beer world are available at http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/government-affairs/monthly-legal-brief.

Cheers!
Gary Glass

[Gary Glass]

The Oklahoma homebrew legalization bill will likely come up for Senate vote soon, maybe as early as tomorrow Fri 4/9 or early next week. OK residents, check out the AHA Action Alert at http://bit.ly/dDpHd8. Send it on to anyone you know in OK who would support this cause.  Contacts from non-residents could be detrimental to the cause, so please leave this to OK residents.

Thanks to everyone who has contacted their legislators on this issue to date, your calls and emails helped get the bill through the House and Senate Business and Labor Committee.

A homebrew bill has been filed in Louisiana this year as well (homebrewing is not statutorily recognized in LA and is questionably legal there).  The original version of the bill was fairly restrictive, but the bill's sponsors are working to revise it to make it more favorable for homebrewers.  I'll pass along more on that as I know more.

Looks like the Alabama homebrew bill is dead for this year.  Though it managed to pass the Senate this year (beyond most people's expectations), the bill has not been brought up for a vote in the House Travel and Tourism Committee and is unlikely to be given a hearing at this point.  Though it is very unlikely that homebrewing will be legalized in Alabama this year, much progress has been made in educating legislators about homebrewing, and I think there is a very good chance of passing a homebrew bill there next year.

Cheers!
Gary

[Gary Glass]

The Okalahoma homebrew legalization bill, HB 2348, passed the Senate today 45 to 3!  This is a huge step towards legalizing homebrewing in the state.  The bill was slightly amended in Senate committee, simply to make the language conform to existing alcohol regulations, which means it does need to go back to the House for a vote on the amended version, but given that it has already passed the House, and the House sponsor approves of the amendments it is likely to pass the House again.  (Though I've learned not to take anything for granted in the legislative process.) 

Bill is at http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2009-10bills/SB/hb2348%20pcs.doc.

For Oklahoma residence, now would be a good time to contact your representative and remind them to support HB 2348 when it comes up for a vote again in the House.  You can find contact info for your district's rep at http://www.capitolconnect.com/demoassoc1/legislatorsearch.aspx.

Looks like we may have a positive development in Louisiana as well.  Representatives from some Louisiana homebrew clubs met with sponsors of a bill seeking to statutorily recognize homebrewing in Louisiana yesterday.  Hopefully a bill that will be good for the state's homebrewers will emerge.  It seems to be moving in the right direction at the moment.

[lostralph]

I'm very happy to hear that since I am in Oklahoma.  In fact I'm drinking some homebrew right now to celebrate  .  My thanks goes out to everyone who has worked to help get this law in motion, and keep it moving through all the legislative hoops.

[Gary Glass]

The Oklahoma homebrew bill, HB 2348 is going back to House for final vote. The bill passed the Senate last week, but was amended in committee to clean up some of the language, so it must go back to the House for a vote on the amended version. The bill could come up for a House vote at any time now.

Once it passes the House, the Governor has 5 days to sign or veto the bill.

See the action alert at http://bit.ly/bb4Cuo

Looking forward to celebrating legal homebrewing in Oklahoma!  Almost there!

[dean]

Also in our sights: Oklahoma, Michigan (to allow homebrew to be served at events at breweries), and potentially Louisiana. 



More to come...

What is going on with that?  I looked up pending bills in Michigan and couldn't find any mention of it nor anything about lowering taxes per barrel for breweries, only a mention that the taxes have been the same since the 1960's if I remember right.

[Gary Glass]

The Oklahoma House passed the Senate-amended version of HB 2348 today, meaning the homebrew legalization bill has cleared the legislature.  It now goes to the Governor to sign or veto.  We're now just one step away from legalizing homebrewing in Oklahoma!

[bonjour]

Awesome!!!!!

[denny]

YEAH!

[rjharper]

I was just getting used to being an outlaw... Seriously though, that awesome news.  Brad Henry (D) is supposed to be fairly centrist, so with a bit of luck we should be good to go.

[Gary Glass]

Oklahoma residents call Governor Brad Henry and ask that he sign HB2348 to legalize homebrewing in OK.  The bill could hit his desk as soon as tomorrow!

See the AHA Action Alert at http://bit.ly/bVzLXh

Thanks!
Gary

[Gary Glass]

We sent an Action Alert to Louisiana residents today in support of HB1484, which if passed will allow homebrew in licensed establishments, such as pubs, breweries and restaurants for homebrew events, club meetings, competitions etc.  This bill is a vastly improved substitute for HB503 which was introduced earlier this year. 

The Louisiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission consider homebrewing to be legal based on the federal homebrew law, but according to the ATC, it is currently not legal to serve unlicensed alcoholic beverages at licensed establishments.

See http://bit.ly/duFbBp for the Action Alert.

[Gary Glass]

Louisiana homebrewers support HB1484 to allow homebrew for club meetings, competitions, and events at pubs, breweries, and other licensed facilities.  The bill has been passed by the Louisiana House and is now in the Senate Judiciary B Committee. See the AHA Action Alert at http://sylb.org/action-alerts/LA_5.28.htm for details.