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Committee clears bill allowing limited home distilling under set caps
Summary
The committee unanimously advanced legislation creating narrow allowances for household distillation with strict quantity and transport limits; sponsors said federal excise and registration rules may still apply.
Sen. Hufstedler presented Senate Bill 194, a measure to permit limited home distillation for personal use under set caps and conditions. "It would allow you to produce a certain amount," Hufstedler said, describing limits modeled on another state's law and drafted by legislative counsel.
Under the draft, an individual could produce up to 5 gallons and a household up to 10 gallons in a 90-day period; production over the 15%/25% thresholds discussed elsewhere did not apply here. The bill would bar sales, public distribution and transport beyond small sealed amounts (the draft referenced a 60-ounce transport cap). The sponsor said producers may need to register with the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) and could be subject to federal excise tax; that federal enforcement question is outside the state's authority.
Committee members asked about enforcement and monitoring; Sen. Hufstedler and others replied enforcement is mostly on the honor system and that federal tax and registration questions are controlled by federal agencies. Sen. Albers and others asked procedural questions and then moved the bill. A motion to pass was seconded by Sen. Sims; the committee recorded the measure as passing by unanimous voice vote.
The committee recorded the vote as unanimous and the bill will proceed in the legislative process.
