The Senate took up its version of the budget bill this past Tuesday, March 25. It passed without opposition. The House version is several weeks behind. The mechanics of this process are: The Senate sends its version of the bill to the House; the House replaces it with its own version, passes it, and sends it back to the Senate. The Senate will not accept the House version and will call for a conference committee—this is when the real work begins. They will spend a good portion of April hashing out the details before a final compromise version is put before both chambers. Keep in mind that the only bill that must pass during the legislative session is the budget.

This past March 14 (at midnight) was the bill filing deadline. From this point forward, only local bills or bills with unanimous consent can be introduced. It looks like a total of around 8,700 bills and resolutions were introduced. You may recall that at the beginning of this session, I noted that only about 15% of bills actually get signed by the Governor or become law without his signature. We’ll see if that trend continues this session. The ultimate success of any particular bill may very well depend on who votes in favor of vouchers.

While the Senate has had a floor calendar and has already passed a variety of Senate bills, the House has yet to have a real calendar. This discrepancy between Senate and House processes is normal for this time of year. The House takes longer to get organized, longer to pass a bill out of committee, and longer to move it through the process to the floor. Unlike the Senate—which does not have a calendar committee (the Lt. Governor sets the calendar)—the House includes an extra step: once a bill is voted out of committee, it must go to the Calendars Committee, which sets the final schedule for the floor.

At that point, bills are considered in the order they appear on the calendar. They are either passed, amended and passed, or rejected. If a bill fails passage, that’s typically the end of it—although it’s not unusual to see its language resurface as an amendment to another bill. If it’s a House bill, it then moves to the Senate and the process starts again. If it’s a Senate bill and remains unchanged in the House, it can go straight to the Governor. If amended, it returns to the Senate to consider the House changes. If the Senate agrees, it goes to the Governor; if not, they can request a conference committee to work out differences. Once a conference committee reaches agreement, the bill returns to both chambers for final approval (or not), and if approved, it goes to the Governor for consideration.

It sounds complicated (and it is), but the system ensures we’re not flooded with new laws every two years. As a taxpayer, that’s probably a good thing.

Your Legislative Committee is monitoring 135 alcohol, alcohol-related, or small business bills and resolutions as they move through the process. Some of this proposed legislation could directly impact our industry, some affects small business in general, and others involve potential changes to the tax code. Bills of particular interest to our industry are reviewed by your TWGGA Legislative Committee, which makes recommendations to the board to support, oppose, or remain neutral. The board then votes and directs your lobby team accordingly.

In particular, we are monitoring HB 3385 and SB 2038 (identical bills), which could potentially create a dual winery permit system. HB 3385 will be heard in committee on Tuesday, April 1. We are also tracking several bills that propose changes to the tax code that could benefit winery owners, as well as a number of agriculture-related bills that could impact vineyards.

This year, the number of bills seeking to alter the Alcoholic Beverage Code seems lower than usual. There may be various reasons for this, including recent changes to the Licensing Committee.

Get involved. Your TWGGA PAC needs your support. Our greatest strength lies in our grassroots advocacy. The TWGGA VineRoots program and the TWGGA PAC are two of the best ways to engage.

Stay up to date on what’s happening at your state Capitol—review the TWGGA website for news and legislative updates.

—TWGGA Legislative Advocate Kyle Frazier