As originally heralded last week at the 2020 Michigan Brewer’s Guild Winter Conference and Trade Show, Berrien County State Rep. Pauline Wendzel has introduced this afternoon a complete package of 15 bills in the State House aimed at increasing Michigan’s self-distribution limit by craft brewers, side by side with numerous other changes to the Michigan Liquor Control Code.
Wendzel has included fellow State Reps Wentworth, Filler, Hall, Garza, and Cambensy on her package, and expects House Bills 5341-through-5355 to be officially read into the House tomorrow.
Her staff reports that they are hoping for a first hearing in the Regulatory Reform Committee “very soon.”
As first reported here last Friday on Moody on the Market, under current Michigan law, breweries are only allowed to self-distribute up to 1,000 barrels per year before signing a contract with a distributor. Rep. Wendzel’s newly introduced legislation would double Michigan’s self-distribution limit from 1,000 barrels per year to 2,000 barrels per year. The bills would also exempt taproom sales from counting towards a brewery’s self-distribution limit.
You can read the original story about Wendzel’s logic and her drive to help the burgeoning craft brewing industry by clicking the link below.
In the photo accompanying this story you see the State Rep. signing the “Blue Books” for each of the 15 bills she has introduced today. Stay tuned.
