TTB employees were back at work on Monday with the re-opening of the government shutdown after more than a month of being out of the office. Most agencies directed their employees to use the first day back to update computer programs, re-set passwords and get settled in. The tech support team at the Department of Housing and Urban Development said it received more than 1,000 calls by 1 p.m. Monday for help getting computers back online and resetting passwords according to a story in the Washington Post.
The TTB has received 9,966 COLA application since January 1st. The current waiting period for malt beverage COLA approval is 48 days. That has increased from 41 days on Tuesday which was posted on the TTB website but should slowly decrease as the agency catches up. Unless of course there is another shutdown after the February 15th deadline.
Things are getting unstuck. In the days since reopening, I’ve heard from TTB regarding 1 wholesaler’s application (after 68 days), and some label submissions (after 59 days).
They still have some digging out to do, but they are getting things back on track.
Hopefully we can avoid another shut down in 11 days and things can really get back on track.