H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Discussion and plans for legalizing our hobby.

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Brewhaus
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by Brewhaus »

Unfortunately, there is nothing new to report at the moment. We are continuing to push as much as we can, but we may not learn anything until they actually move on it.
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by pfshine »

Thanks for the update. Does anyone know the time frame that these bills would be sent to committee or voted on?
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by Brewhaus »

The bills were sent to committee, but from there it is completely unknown.
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by Haus »

So after my earlier post just to make my point.
The Governor today signed a bill that allows alcohol sales on Christmas. A ban that has been on the books since prohibition.
Here's the hitch, it doesn't take effect until July, so this year is out. Christmas falls on a Sunday next year, did I mention you can't buy alcohol on Sunday here but you can go to a bar and get hammered as long as you buy a bowl of chips. So next year is out. It will be three years before the law even goes into effect. :wtf:
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by LWTCS »

Here in Florida sent to:


Congressman Ander Crenshaw via
Jennifer Debes
jennifer.debes@mail.house.gov

Senator Bill Nelson via
Carla McGarvey
carla_mcgarvey@billnelson.senate.gov

Congressman Vern Buchanan via
Chris Netram
chris.netram@mail.house.gov

Congressman John Mica via
Kevan Stone
kevan.stone@mail.house.gov
Trample the injured and hurdle the dead.
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by tcowdrey »

Gentlemen,
The bills in Congress address federal laws governing the distillation of alcohol by hobbyists who are not in business to sell it. What you are talking about has to do with the resale of legally produced spirits in bars that are governed by the states. Apples and Oranges. If you read H.R. 2903 you will see that it does not take effect for 12 months after it is passed - Big deal, I seriously doubt the TTB will come after a hobbyist who is not selling his distillate once the bill is passed. Remember, once we get the federal law changed, we will then have to go after each individual state to change their laws (if they need changing - some will not.) Concentrate on the next 24 hours, not next year or your individual state.

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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by thumper123 »

I think some of the arguements I'm seeing are counterproductive to getting any meaningful legislation passed. We need to embrace anything we can to get our hobby legalized. Possibly baby steps could lead to less stringent restrictions in the future. It used to be that there was a 250 gallon limit on wine and beer. I don't know if that still applies today, but if it does I haven't heard about it lately. Let's get things legal on some/any level first. The 15.5 gallon pot? I have a five gallon still that produces all I can drink, and some of you guys want 55 gallon stills? Jeez, what have you guys got? Big families, or serious drinking problems?

PLEASE call, email or write your representatives and ask them to support this measure.
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by bearriver »

thumper123 wrote:We need to embrace anything we can to get our hobby legalized.
I'll embrace anything that is better than the current situation. I'll also embrace any positive attention "home distillation" can get as a whole.

I want to give my thanks to the people responsible for this bill. Cheers to you and your efforts!
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by BaxtersDad »

If I'm not mistaken, HR 2903 is the bill that included legalization of home distilling but was mainly about tax relief for small breweries, wineries and distilleries.

The tax relief part has passed. Read about it here. Anybody know what happened to legalization of home distilling?
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by BaxtersDad »

Well, a little internet research indicates that the bill that was HR 2903 and its Senate companion did not get passed. What got passed was all the tax relief for small breweries, wineries and cider producers as part of the gazillion page budget bill...so legalization of home distilling is still a ways out there.
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by Rastus »

BUMMER
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by 3d0g »

Nope. Wrong. One has nothing to do with the other. The bond adjustments for breweries BA is referring to were tacked on to a tax extender bill and have nothing to do with H.R. 2903 / S. 1562. They are both still in committee.

http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/201 ... 50_xml.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by BaxtersDad »

3d0g wrote:Nope. Wrong. One has nothing to do with the other. The bond adjustments for breweries BA is referring to were tacked on to a tax extender bill and have nothing to do with H.R. 2903 / S. 1562. They are both still in committee.

http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/201 ... 50_xml.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
I don't think so, Bond adjustments were just a little part of it. It was MOST of what was in HR 2903 / S. 1582 was proposing, excluding legalizing home distilling, including huge tax rate relief and changing the tax payment schedule for small breweries and wineries, that got tacked on to the big budget bill. I read H.R .2903 and matched it up with the relief the brewers and vintners got, and they lined up almost provision for provision. Go back and re-read the substantive provisions in the B.A. article. H.R. 2902 and S. 1562 may still be in committee, but the big motivator for members of Congress to vote for H.R. 2903 / S. 1562 was to help small business. Now the opposition can say they have already done that. But I would be interested to see what our organization for legalization of home distilling has to say about the effect of the relief the brewers and vintners received on the legalization effort.
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by Brewhaus »

I have been working to get an answer on this. If enough parts of the bill have moved forward without our inclusion then the hill just became much steeper.
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by MitchyBourbon »

The Senate has sine dieed. A new session begins January 4th. Aren't all bills that have not been passed, dead? Do we have to start over?
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by Brewhaus »

The session runs until they break for the election, so the bill is still live. They are just in recess for Christmas / New Years.
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by 3d0g »

BaxtersDad wrote: I don't think so, Bond adjustments were just a little part of it. It was MOST of what was in HR 2903 / S. 1582 was proposing, excluding legalizing home distilling, including huge tax rate relief and changing the tax payment schedule for small breweries and wineries, that got tacked on to the big budget bill. I read H.R .2903 and matched it up with the relief the brewers and vintners got, and they lined up almost provision for provision. Go back and re-read the substantive provisions in the B.A. article. H.R. 2902 and S. 1562 may still be in committee, but the big motivator for members of Congress to vote for H.R. 2903 / S. 1562 was to help small business. Now the opposition can say they have already done that. But I would be interested to see what our organization for legalization of home distilling has to say about the effect of the relief the brewers and vintners received on the legalization effort.
Sorry BaxtersDad, that's simply untrue. Read the actual passed legislation I linked to. There was ZERO excise tax relief for alcohol, only changes in bond requirements.

We'll have to see if H.R. 2903 / S. 1562 gains any movement in the 2nd session of the 114th congress...
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by MitchyBourbon »

Brewhaus wrote:The session runs until they break for the election, so the bill is still live. They are just in recess for Christmas / New Years.
Thank you for the clarification.

What can we do to help this along? There are already 156 co-sponsors in the house and 32 in the senate. Should we be taking a more organized approach? Should we be emailing individual members of the House Budget Committee and House Ways and Means Committee? Focusing in particular on those who are also co-sponsors. Urging them to push this bill on to the next step...
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by Brewhaus »

With the bill still sitting in Committee, and the session ending next year, there is a new sense of urgency. We will be discussing this with our lobbyist and among those running the HDA to see how we can move the needle to get this done. One thing that is for sure is that we are going to need as much participation as possible.
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by MitchyBourbon »

But what should we do right now? Are there any draw backs to my suggestion? I have plenty of time right now, after the holidays not so much.

BTW, I really enjoyed your book.
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by Brewhaus »

Thank you for your comments on my book, MB. :D

With Congress in recess there is little that will happen regardless of what we do over the next couple of weeks. Definitely we will need people to contact their representatives, and hopefully get friends and family members to do the same. I hate to say it, but we also need to see more paid members on the HDA. As I am sure you can imagine, carrying most of the load for nearly two years now has become substantial, so we desperately need the help. While it is great to have longer term memberships, it is even better to have more members to show stronger numbers, and that only costs each person $30.

The big thing is that we are currently closer to legalization than we have ever been in the past, so we have to make sure that this opportunity does not slip away from us!
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by masonsjax »

Any developments over the last month?
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by Brewhaus »

All quiet, unfortunately.
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by MitchyBourbon »

4 new cosponsors just signed up, we're at 160. I see this as a good sign that this bill is still relevant. Regardless of what ever was passed in that other legislation.
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by nickbbb »

Good deal! I have contacted my rep many times. I have friends in other states, so where can we find a list of sponsors already signed?
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by MitchyBourbon »

nickbbb wrote:Good deal! I have contacted my rep many times. I have friends in other states, so where can we find a list of sponsors already signed?
Here
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-con ... 3/all-info" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by bsimms »

Hi all, new to this board but interested in the outcome of this bill. I will be contacting my representative in New York about it. Has there been any new updates in the last month, seems like it all slowed down since the recess in December. What does it take to get the bill out of committee?
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by MitchyBourbon »

Welcome to HD bsimms,

There have been 6 new co-sponsors just this week, so I think that is very positive. Definitely contact your representative and your senators. Reference H. R. 2903 when contacting your representative and reference S. 1562 when contacting Senators. I am going to start contacting people who serve on the committee's that our bill has been assigned to. Particularly, those people that have also co-sponsored our bill. I will see if I can't persuade them to take this bill to the next step.
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by Rastus »

This is just outstanding... i had the pleasure of meeting 6 senators from 6 different states Just over a week ago, too bad it wasnt in the senate as of yet......

however it is nice knowing that it is having such a positive response, and so Bipartisan.

yeah man..... PASS THAT BILL Mr. senator!!! i want to make LEGAL Party Likker :twisted:
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Re: H.R. 2903 is up to 83 co-sponsors...

Post by jdetechguy »

How does a bill get this many sponsors without any action?
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