Bill puts in-state, out-of-state wineries on equal basis

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Bill puts in-state, out-of-state wineries on equal basis

Bill puts in-state, out-of-state wineries on equal basis

It took two years for a consortium of liquor industry organizations to draft Illinois House Bill 429, which puts restrictions on how many cases of wine can be sold by both in-state and out-of-state wineries.

HB 429 was passed in August 2007 and went into effect on June 1 of this year. The bill is intended to bring Illinois in compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Granholm v. Heald, which stated that states can not put restrictions on out-of-state wineries that do not apply to in-state wineries.

Under the new law, Illinois consumers can purchase up to 12 cases of wine per person annually from out-of-state wineries, the same number Illinois residents can buy from in-state wineries. Supporters of the bill state that Illinois consumers now have more selections to choose from as they will have the ability to purchase more cases of wine from out-of-state vineyards.

It also allows the Illinois Liquor Commission to regulate, control and collect taxes on all wine sold in the state.

“We wanted to make sure the legislation met the goals of the supreme court but that it didn’t go away from the idea that the state has the authority to control alcohol within its borders and that it is a controlled and regulated product, unlike every other product,” said Bill Olson, president of the Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois, one of the four associations tasked with drafting the bill.

“It’s a system that regulates alcoholic liquors.”

Critics of the new law point out that Illinois residents have been stripped of their right to buy wine from out-of-state retailers and are now forced to buy from those wineries and vineyard that hold the necessary producer licenses required by the new law to obtain an Illinois Wine Shipping Permit.

In addition, HB 429 received considerable opposition from Illinois’s two largest wineries, Lynfred Winery in Roselle and Galena Cellars Vineyard & Winery, who argue that the law discriminates against larger wineries that will lose substantial revenues from direct sales to consumers—where previously they could ship an unlimited number of cases in-state.

For wine lovers, this law means that if Illinois wholesalers choose not to carry a product produced by smaller out-of-state wineries, they will not have the opportunity to purchase it at all.

While this law is a big win for the Illinois liquor industry by allowing it continued taxation and regulation of its products, consumers will no longer have their pick of the litter in regards to out-of-state wines—a right every Illinois resident has had for the past 15 years.

Jeremy Stoltz, Staff Writer

Posted on Monday, June 16, 2008 (Archive on Monday, June 23, 2008)
Posted by jstoltz Contributed by jstoltz

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