New Alcohol Bills Floating Quietly Through GA Legislature
Decatur Metro | February 16, 2012 | 10:29 amI can’t find the soft-copy of this, but this morning’s newsprint AJC (ugh, god…what IS this black stuff all over my hands?!) reports that there are several proposed laws “to ease the selling, drinking or making of alcoholic beverages…moving quietly through the Legislature” this session. Among them are…
- Allowing visitors to GA distillers to sip a half-ounce sample
- Letting brew pubs double their beer-making capacity
- Permit wine tastings in liquor stores
- Giving GA residents with a single drunk-driving conviction to wipe their records clean
- Allowing alcohol sellers to increase their dealer licenses fivefold
- Make it easier for local gov’ts to call for liquor referendums
The rest of the article documents the quiet journey these bills have taken compared to the craziness surrounding last years Sunday Sales brew-hah. It’s unclear how many of these bills will make it to the floor for a vote, but it seems likely that at least some of these bills could become law before the close of the 2012 legislative session.
If someone can find a link to the AJC story online, let me know!
Related Posts:
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January 7, 2011 Are Growlers Legal in Decatur? (26)
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February 3, 2011 Georgia Sunday Alcohol Sales Bill Outlook Good (14)
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April 13, 2011 Sunday Alcohol Sales Bill Passes Legislature; Ball Now In Decatur’s Court (0)
All sound good except for the DUI part, unsure about that one.
Don’t spend any time trying to make yourself sure. It’s got slightly less than 0% chance of passing.
I feel absolutely sure about that one and am glad to hear it has no chance of passing (assuming you know what you’re talking about!). Why would it even be proposed? I’d like to know who proposed it. Will someone please look that up for me?
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/archives/62548/
Rusty Kidd of Milledgeville introduced the bill.
Thank you.
“Rusty Kidd”– seriously??? That’s awesome! With that name, he could totally be an actor starring in Wild West porn (assuming there is such a thing)…
Might be proposed to increase DUI guilty pleas and convictions in an effort to reduce the number of “not guilty” pleas and DUI cases on court dockets. This is just a guess on my part.
I think there’s actually some better intent behind this law than people are allowing. A drunk driving charge can affect your ability to get employment for the rest of your life, so in a way it’s a life sentence for what, in so many cases, was a stupid mistake. I think it says something like, once convicted if you stay clean for ten years, then it is expunged. This opens up your ability to be employed and may be more in line with a punishment that fits the crime.
I don’t think by any means it is saying to expunge the record of someone who has killed or injured. Just DUI convictions period, and not multiple ones.
That said, the reason it was introduced in the first place is probably because Rusty has a cousin or nephew who’s having a hard time finding job.
A stupid mistake? You have got to be kidding. A good friend and a brother in law I never met were killed by drunk drivers. Anyone who makes the potentially lethal decision to drive drunk should be imprisoned and never allowed to drive again. . If anything, penalties are way too light.
The only reason bills like this pop up is to make a politician popular amongst the drunken masses.
No, I’m not kidding, and yes I too have known people who have died because of a drunk driver. If you care to read what I said more carefully, you’ll note that I did not advocate killers getting off…thank you very much. I am, however, also honest with myself and know as much as anyone else that if you are someone who has enjoyed alcohol over your lifetime then there has been the occasion where you’ve been behind the wheel when you shouldn’t have. The real reason the laws are not tougher and the enforcement is often too relaxed is because more people than not are aware they have put themselves in the position where it could have been them. I am responsible with my drinking and driving now that I’m older. I had years when I was not so thoughtful…thankfully I never got caught and even more thankfully I never had an accident or killed anyone, but I do know the truth. I also know people who have blown under the limit and still been found guilty of DUI. So, yes, people make stupid mistakes. I’m glad that you have never driven while under the influence of alcohol, drugs, painkillers, or been behind the wheel when you were too tired to drive (which is just as dangerous as drunk drivers), but since that’s the case and you are perfect you’ll never be able to understand my argument. That’s just one more think I’ll have to learn to live with.
We need legislation that allows brew pubs to sell growlers or their bottled-beer to their customers.
Also, our breweries should be able to sell their own beer out of their own brewery.
Any of that in the current legislation floating through?
Current Georgia law strongly protects the distributors who are the middlemen between the producer and the retailer. Selling at the point of origin would cut them out and they are a very strong lobby. Therefore, not much chance on that one.
I know the distributors have a strong lobby… but c’mon – would they REALLY be hurt? It’s not like everyone is going to stop going to bar, restaurants, grocers and package stores.
I’m talking about a small percentage of people that go to brewery tours and would like to take home some of the beverages offered, right from the source. Or a brewery being able to sell growlers so fans can spread the word (which may increase sales, helping local business and govt. through tax revenues). Or what about a brew pub like Twain’s being able to sell a growler of some in-house brew? These things could only help our local businesses.
Again, yes – the distributors lobby strongly… but then again, Sunday sales were an uphill battle and we finally got that one.
I heard from the guys at “The Growler Store” that the distributer lobby is the second highest contributor to politicians after the road contractors. I agree the laws are crazy, but here is a golden rule. Those with the gold make the rules.
I don’t doubt you, but this is still a law that should be changed. Maybe Rep. Benfield would consider taking it up. From what I’ve heard, she was instrumental in getting the law changed to allow higher gravity beer to be sold in Georgia.
Breweries and brewpubs are growing businesses in Georgia. I think if they could organize themselves and mobilize the beer-drinking public behind them, then it wouldn’t be such a longshot. Imagine how awesome it would be if you could sample the wares at Ale Yeah or the Beer Growler before buying a growler, or go to Twain’s and buy a growler of their beer, or go to Sweetwater or Terrapin and buy beer fresh from the brewery.
Now I don’t want to get off on a rant here, but there is only one word for this – corruption. Any elected official in Georgia who accepts bribes from alcohol distributors to keep their legally attained status in a business supply chain (i.e. a tax on all of us and a limit on our freedom, with no corresponding justification) should not just be voted out, they should be prosecuted. I know it goes back decades, but it’s wrong on every level and it must be eliminated.
This kind of crap is why we have the Tea Party and Occupy movements. Our government is bought and paid for. I challenge anyone to argue against that simple yet outrageous statement.
If only our media outlets would publish the details on this corruption, instead of obsessing on things like the death of a drug addled pop star. This is why the AJC is worthless – it has done little for us, the people.
-Allowing alcohol sellers to increase their dealer licenses fivefold
Does this mean that liquor store license holders would be bale to hold 10 liquor licenses from the current 2?? If so, there goes all the small neighborhood liquor stores. Everything will be a Total Wine, Tower or Greens…
Yeah, we wouldn’t want someone who has figured out how to do something well to be allowed to become too successful.
I think we should just have a free beer fountain in front of the old Courthouse and be done with it.
What about doing away with the silly “not before 12:30 PM on Sundays” law? My morning grocery trip would be a lot more productive…and it would save the gas I use on a second trip.
Hear hear! That law is a form of Sharia.
sadly, home delivery not on the agenda
How about allowing beer tastings in growler stores?
I’m all for the tasting of Growlers!