New bill would exempt small brewers from newly passed legislation
Lawmakers have a new bill that would exempt most craft brewers from the beer distribution changes made in the 2011-13 state budget.
The bill is authored by Representative Janis Ringhand (D-Evansville) who feels the new regulations hurt competition, limit trade and discourage investment.
This proposal would exempt craft brewers that manufacture less than 300,000 barrels per year from the new law.
There was no public input on the subject before it became law. Ringhand hopes to have a public hearing this time around. She says it’s important to support the entrepreneurs and small business owners that help to grow the economy.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers had asked Governor Scott Walker to veto a portion of the budget pertaining to micro-breweries that was added by the Joint Committee on Finance, but he opted against that request.