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House committee advances bills updating brand-extension and craft-beverage rules
Summary
The House Rules Committee reported House Bills 4823 and 4824 out of committee with unanimous votes after industry representatives described technical fixes to Michigan's brand-extension and liquor-code provisions for beer, wine and craft beverage producers.
The Michigan House Rules Committee reported House Bills 4823 and 4824 out of committee with unanimous votes after testimony from industry representatives about updates to the state's brand-extension provisions and other technical changes to the liquor code.
Proponents told the committee the bills are intended to clarify application of the brand-extension law and address several provisions of the liquor control code that affect breweries and wholesalers.
"It's an update to the brand extension law ... it's going to go through some updates," said a representative of the Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association, who testified before the committee alongside Representative Beerline, the sponsor. The witness described the change as adding clarity to prevent future disputes or litigation.
Scott Graham of the Michigan Brewers Guild said House Bill 4823 includes two provisions of particular interest to brewery members: allowing nonalcoholic beer to be sold in brewery tasting rooms and clarifying the definition of a seat on the Michigan Craft Beverage Council so an open seat can be filled.
"One will allow nonalcoholic beer to be sold in brewery tasting rooms, which we think is a safe, reasonable alternative to other soft drinks," Graham said. He also said the bill addresses a long-open seat on the Michigan Craft Beverage Council that affects representation of large brewers.
Committee members adopted substitute language for both bills and voted to report each bill with recommendation. For House Bill 4823 the committee adopted substitute H-1 and reported the bill with recommendation as substitute H-1 by a recorded vote of 9 yays, 0 nays, 0 pass. For House Bill 4824 the committee adopted substitute H-3 and reported the bill with recommendation as substitute H-3 by a recorded vote of 9 yays, 0 nays, 0 pass.
The committee hearing record shows the measures were reported out of the House Regulatory Reform Committee unanimously the prior week, and witnesses said they had no stakeholder opposition there.
The committee did not take additional amendments beyond adopting the substitutes and completed its votes without further debate.
Looking ahead, both bills will move to the next stage of House consideration with the committee's recommendation attached.
