The Texas Legislature meets every two years. The Association actively solicits feedback from the membership to develop an agenda prior to each session and the board of directors authorizes the Legislative and Regulatory Committee to manage the pursuit of that agenda during the session. Currently the chair of the Committee is Gabe Parker of Homestead Winery in Ivanhoe, Denison and Grapevine. Please contact Gabe or Dacota Haselwood using the contact information below if you have feedback or questions about the agenda.

State Budget Affect Wine and Grape Industry Development Funds
By Dacota Haselwood, chief governmental affairs officer

The Legislative Budget Board has released their budget recommendations for the 2012-2013 biennium.  Their recommendation was to zero out all money appropriated to TDA for wine and grape industry development.  That is $4.3 million per biennium for education, research and marketing that is typically either spent directly by or re-granted out through TDA.  That means the industry will lose the following valuable programs among other things:

Viticulture and enology advisors; 

Research programs to identify best practices to avoid cotton root rot, canker and others;

Research programs on varietal selection related to our specific climate conditions in Texas; and

Marketing support by TDA that has brought us state wide and national recognition.

It is imperative that as many industry members and stakeholders (that includes our vendors, loyal consumer base, city and county officials and friends) contact their state representatives and senators in an attempt to educate elected state officials and their staff about how important these funds have been and could continue to be to the growth of the Texas wine and grape industry.  The jobs of the following state employees involved in the wine and grape industry depend on these phone calls:  Robert Champion, Texas Department of Agriculture; Brent Trella, Texas Tech University; Suzanne Talcott, Texas A&M University; Mike Sipowitz, Texas Agrilife Extension; Fritz Westover, Texas Agrilife Extension; Penny Adams, Texas Agrilife Extension; Fran Pontasch, Texas Agrilife Extension; Dusty Timmons, Texas Agrilife Extension.

To identify and get contact information for your state representative and senator, please click the following link and enter your address:  http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/

When making the phone calls do the following:
Establish that you are a constituent and ask to speak with your elected official
Explain how you are involved in the Texas wine and grape industry (calls from loyal consumers are as important as calls from winemakers and grape growers)
Relate information on the talking points document
Talk about how each agenda item will impact your business
Offer to e-mail the talking points for their file
Send follow-up e-mail to dacota@twgga.org with details of your call – including contact information for the person with whom you spoke

For talking points and agenda items when speaking to your elected officials and their staff members, please click here. 

For a copy of the most recent economic impact numbers please click here. 

In order that the legislative and regulatory committee may stay apprised of how extensive our message has been broadcast, following your phone calls, please send an e-mail with follow-up information to Dacota Haselwood at dacota@twgga.org.  Please also direct questions and/or comments to Dacota Haselwood via e-mail or at 210/867-2576.

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Participate at the State Capitol – A Call to TWGGA Members
In an effort to increase the visibility of the Texas wine and grape industry at the state capitol during the state legislative session AND to provide industry members with additional opportunities to interact with their elected officials, we will be hosting three capitol days rather than just one during the 2011 session.  There will still only be one capitol tasting.

Due to scheduling conflicts with the legislative conference center (room where we host our in capitol tasting event), the capitol tasting will not be held in conjunction with the annual conference this year.  It is our intent that during the 2013 session the capitol tasting will again be hosted in conjunction with the annual conference.   

Dates for the three Grassroots Capitol Days during the 2011 state legislative session are:
Wednesday, January 19 from 7 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Wednesday, February 23 from Noon – 8 p.m.
Wednesday, April 13 from 7 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Suggested Accommodations
Stephen F. Austin Intercontinental:  http://austin.intercontinental.com/
Double Tree Guest Suites:  http://doubletree1.hilton.com/en_US/dt/hotel/AUSFLDT-Doubletree-Guest-Suites-Austin-Texas/index.do
Omni Downtown:  http://www.omnihotels.com/FindAHotel/AustinDowntown.aspx

For additional information about the Texas State Legislature, visit http://www.capitol.state.tx.us

The following are links to state agencies that regulate the Texas wine and grape industry:
Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission
Texas Department of Agriculture
Texas Department of State Health Services