2017Issue4_Alabama_v3_COVER_Proof

PRESIDENT’ S MESSAGE

o f f - p r em i s e a l c oho l ta s t i ng s hu g e w i n f o r A GA

ELLIE SMOTHERMAN TAYLOR PRESIDENT ALABAMA GROCERS ASSOCIATION

One of my favorite benjamin franklin quotes is "In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria." I guess this is true for alcohol lovers.

Faulkner who agreed to sponsor SB 5 and HB 134 respectively in the 2017 Legislative Session that would allow off-premise licensees to hold tastings for both wine and beer. Through meetings with ABC Administrator Mac Gipson, Assistant Administrator WilliamThigpen and ABC staff, an agreement was made to work together and make these important changes through ABC Regulation and legislation would not be required. These regulations are now effective after two votes at ABC Board Meetings on March 1, 2017 and June 14, 2017 including time for a comment period and a 45- day wait after regulations are sent to the Legislative Reference Service. These regulations will be effective on August 5, 2017, and can be found in the Alabama Administrative Code 20-x-7.07 (Wine) and 20-x-7-.10 (Beer). This is a HUGE win for our Association and it would not be possible without the relationships we build all year with our Legislators and State Regulatory Agencies. Big thanks go to Senator Jabo Waggoner, Representative David Faulkner, Attorney Paul DeMarco, Legislative Consultant Pat McWhorter and all our member companies who fought so hard to make this happen.

Alcohol seems to always be a hotly contested debate in our state. Whether it be for privatization, the three-tier system or now to allow alcohol sales for grocery delivery, I know our members will always be engaged when it comes to the sale of alcohol. Perhaps this goes all the way to our prohibition days when we were told that it was not allowed and the government had the right to take it away from us. This year we took on the fight for the ability of off-premise license stores to do tastings for beer and wine. For years, grocery stores with on-premise licenses have been doing alcohol tastings. But several years ago, when the Alabama Legislature passed higher alcohol content beer and wines, the ABC Board changed the ABC regulations for an on-premise license. These changes included mandates for an area no smaller than 500 square feet and seating for 16 per ABC Board Administrative Code Chapter 20-x-6, effective May 7, 2010.

To meet these new qualifications, grocery stores would have to spend great expense for costly upgrades so any stores with new remodels or new stores coming into the market would not qualify. Grocery stores operate on a less than 1% profit margin and utilize every square foot of the store for sales. Stores were being forced to choose between square footage to sell goods to consumers or empty space with chairs and tables for a one day, two-hour, once a week tasting. In the 2016 Legislative Session, SB 219, sponsored by Senator Billy Beasley, allowed off premise state stores and private liquor stores the ability to do tastings for liquor and wine. This initiated talks with our Association and the Alabama ABC Board. We believed this legislation gave state ABC locations and private liquor stores a competitive advantage over other stores in the state that sold wine and beer. We also began talks with both Senator Jabo Waggoner and Representative David

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