The picture below is a pretty special one to me. Not only was I significantly younger and thinner, but it was taken alongside Texas craft beer lobbyists Jim Dow, Mark Homer and Jason Smith (Jim and Mark still represent Texas craft brewers today, Jason now works for the University of Houston) as we marched to the Capitol … Continued
Austin, the wait is over. We have a little bit of history in this city. I used to spend way more time than I ever hoped to in one of your beautiful buildings. I even made quite a few friends there. Okay, I’ll admit it, I even kind of like it there. But I’m an unapologetic … Continued
This will be fairly brief since there isn’t a lot to say that hasn’t been said already. OUR BEER BILLS ARE ON THEIR WAY TO THE GOVERNOR! We aren’t expecting any issues with the Governor, as we have been in close contact with his office throughout the process. Just a few thank yous. First, to … Continued
Figured it was time for an update here, since emails and tweets are starting to trickle in asking about the Texas Craft Beer Bills. After all, seemingly nothing has happened since they were voted out of Licensing & Administrative Procedures and sent to the House Calendars Committee on April 23. Well, I’m here to reassure everyone that … Continued
What an honor today as Senator Van de Putte was fulfilling her roll as President Pro-Temp and acting as Lt. Governor for the passage of our beer bills in the Senate. SB 515, 518 and 639 got voted on today. SB 516 and 517 will be later this week, probably tomorrow. At this point in … Continued
We had our House Licensing & Administrative Procedures Committee hearing yesterday, and it was unlike any craft beer bill hearing before in that it was quick, easy and without much fanfare. Chairman Wayne Smith laid out the bills, myself, Brock Wagner, and Leslie Sprague of Open the Taps all offered ourselves to questions, but received … Continued
As has been widely reported, a deal was struck late Monday afternoon between The Texas Craft Brewers Guild, distributor groups, large brewers, and Open The Taps. The final deal includes the following bills, and here is the final version of what they do (items in earlier versions of the bills but not listed below are … Continued
Just a quick media round-up. I’ll likely be back with a first-person perspective of the Senate Hearing (set for Tuesday) on Wednesday, along with a round-up of media coverage. Until then… The Rivard Report has a story on all things shaking at the Capitol in regards to Craft Beer. A Beaumont Enterprise story on the … Continued
Just a quick roll call on who has officially supported our Craft Beer Bills, SB515-18 and HB1763-66, as of noon today. If only the folks in Washington, DC could be this bi-partisan! After the list of supporters of the bills we like, I’ve also included a list of members who have officially supported the bills … Continued
Out of curiosity, I decided to see how closely correlated brewery laws are to the number of breweries in a state. To the shock of no one, turns out good laws that support the development of craft breweries results in more craft breweries. To perform this analysis, I did a few thing: Obtained a list of … Continued
