Our fingers are crossed as the 83rd Texas Legislator session closes shop this evening. One very important hearing on their plates today involved House Bill 1997, allowing Texas distillers to sell souvenir bottles from their tasting rooms. On March 27th, it passed out of Senate unanimously as Senate Bill 905. That’s right 31/zero. And today there was a hearing to move it out of a House committee onto the floor of Representatives. They listened to testaments from several distillers around the state, as well as other interested parties (…distributors?)
Good things could happen if this bill passes both houses:
1) A tourist industry could spring up around Texas distilleries, as it has with Texas wine, bringing more people to the state, as well as more locals out into their communities and nearby towns to discover something new. That leads to more business for restaurants, hotels, B&B’s, and nearby shops, as well as an inflow of tax money for those towns. We saw how the wine industry helped to grow towns like Fredericksburg. This could be another wave.
2) It enables the distiller to make a slightly better profit on his or her product, encouraging the distillery to expand and employ more people. Breaking it down: At this moment, only distributors can sell liquor in the state. Whereas they play a very important role, consolidating products into single locations for easy-shopping (and this will not stop with a new bill), they also take a cut as middle men. And that is okay, if production is high enough for the producer to stay afloat, but very small distillers have a hard time keeping their head above water with a low-profit margins on every bottle. (And anyway, it’s pain to have to drive back into town and find the bottle you just tasted at the distillery. You can’t get it signed by the distiller in person at that city store, either).
3) It encourages more distillers to open shop. If you can sell out of your front door, you can grow your business as a cottage industry, adding on bit by bit. This sparks creativity and adds more voices to the choir. More locally made product, crafted by my neighbors? Yes, please.
We are logged in to the State’s system, following the bill, and we’ll keep you apprised of the latest news.
– Margaret Shugart
Distilling Texas 