The text of the bill to raise the 10,000 barrel cap for on-premise sales at brewery tap rooms is now available. You’ll find the text of the bill, currently known as LC2093, at this link. (Or click on the bill itself below.) The bill will receive a new designation once it is introduced in the…
At long last, the text of the Montana Tavern Association’s and Montana Brewers Association’s collaborative bill was released late Friday. Industry members in all tiers (and craft beer fans) can finally judge the potential effect of the bill, something not previously possible despite months of press releases and other media correspondence touting broad based support.…
The game of politics is one filed with points and counterpoints. For 2013, the Montana Tavern Association stayed under the radar before launching an all out offensive against the craft brewing industry. When that effort was defeated, the various alcohol industry groups spent the next 1.5 years searching for common ground in Montana’s alcohol licensing…
The Montana Beer and Wine Distributors Association (MBWDA) announced today it has withdrawn from a coalition of alcohol industry groups over a disagreement with the Montana Tavern Association’s and Montana Brewers Association’s plans to seek changes to alcohol licensing requirements during the 2015 Montana Legislative Session. For background on the proposed “license stacking” bill, see…
Montana’s 22 beer and wine distributors support more than 2,000 jobs, says a July 2014 study prepared by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research of the University of Montana. They aren’t primarily minimum wage jobs either, with average annual earnings of nearly $54,000. The study was conducted at the request of the Montana Beer…
The 2013 Montana Legislature got underway on Monday, January 7, and wasted little time in taking up the first significant legislation pertaining to beer. House Bill 58 would create a new license for brew-on-premises operations. The bill received its first hearing before the House Business and Labor Committee early Friday morning. The bill is sponsored…