Citing evolving and exciting industry, 42-year-old says he ‘wants to be part of it’. Listen to our in-depth interview with Mike on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to shows.
An unprecedented election season is in full swing in the Commonwealth. With all 140 seats up for grabs, the political landscape made for a busy summer at VBWA.
July 2023 Update: The VBWA and our ABC counsel, Kevin McNally, spent much of the spring writing comments that were sent to the TTB. These comments align with our state peers and the national association; a copy was emailed to VBWA members at the beginning of July.
In November 2022, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) announced a wide-ranging review of its trade practice regulations. In particular, TTB invited comment from industry members and the public on revisions to its regulations related to the Federal Alcohol Administrative Act’s prohibitions against exclusive outlets, tied house, commercial bribery and consignment sales.
Fifty beer distributor leaders representing 15 wholesalers statewide spent Thursday morning at the Virginia General Assembly to advocate for a series of bills that support the three tier system, grow craft breweries, create jobs, and protect public safety.
This is the last full week of session, so it’s pretty intense at the state Capitol. Budget negotiators have been appointed and have started the process of negotiating a state budget, and the Governor’s proposed tax cuts are a key sticking point. Most committees met for a final time last week, so this week is focused on working out conference reports for bills where there wasn’t agreement, budget negotiations, and electing judges.
It's been a busy week with both the House and Senate getting to work. As expected, both parties highlighted issues of importance to their respective bases with the House GOP passing the Gov's $1 Billion tax cut, passing "election integrity" bills and killing all the Democrats gun control bills. In the Senate, the Democratic majority killed all GOP drafted bills restricting abortions, passed a constitutional amendment protecting gay marriage and put the Gov's tax cuts on life support. There were really no surprises by most political observers. We can expect more of the same next week as it's the last full week before the legislature hits the critical "crossover" deadline on Feb. 7th.
The 2023 General Assembly Session has wrapped up the second week of its "short" 45-day session.
Overall it was a very good week for bills that could impact the Three-Tier system - a key one was defeated and another, to allow for limited distribution by breweries, is moving accordingly. Listed below are highlights of those bills of interest to our industry. Should you want more details, you can go directly to the bill summary, history, and text by clicking the bill number.
The 2023 General Assembly Session gaveled in this week on Wednesday, January 11, for a "short" 46 day session...
Before we kickoff what is sure to be one of the wildest election years in Virginia history, in which all 140 seats are up for grabs, first thing’s first: the 2023 Virginia General Assembly convenes today with a Republican-controlled House of Delegates and Democratic-held Senate.
At the Virginia Beer Wholesalers Association, here’s where we are focused as we head into this short session (at least 30 days in odd years, though the session is highly likely to be extended).
