Posted On April 16, 2013
The House voted down HJ18 with a 50 to 50 vote with the full House on third reading today, showing the strength of the Montana Taverns Association and the Montana Gaming Industry Association lobbies. The bill, which would have provided for the study of licensing issues within the alcohol code had passed second reading on Monday, April 15, with a vote of 62-37.
Obviously there are those industry members who didn’t really want to work together during the interim to develop proper, long-term solutions to licensing and retail issues which have been so controversial. Even though these industry members requested amendments to the Study Resolution, which were accepted in committee, they worked hard to kill the measure in the House and apparently never intended to work within the confines of the legislative interim process. Representative Christy Clark was surprised by the turn of votes in the House, and also surprised at how some do not want any daylight brought to the current outdated alcohol control laws.
The Montana Brewers Association and its members want to extend our heartfelt thanks to all Montana craft beer fans that have taken time out to let your voices be heard, and written to legislators or placed editorials in newspapers statewide. Your hard work and enthusiasm has set the stage for the Montana Brewers Association to continue working towards sensible solutions that meet the needs of Montanans, and to take advantage of the time provided.
Please stay tuned to our webpage and Facebook page for updates on next steps on important policy issues that will affect Montana brewers and all the craft beer fans in Montana!