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

[rgreen2002]

It's a hell of a good fight you're putting up Brewhaus and we greatly appreciate it. I just re-upped my HDA membership a few weeks ago and I'm hoping for a good Christmas!

[Brewhaus]

Thank you for your support. We have come a long way since we took up this fight. To even be on a bill is huge!

[brewstillski]

Just joined the HDA and sent emails to my representatives. Keep up the great work.

[jdetechguy]

I rejoined and certainly would make a donation for this cause

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[Brewhaus]

It doesn't look like anything is happening in this Congress, so we are trying to get a feel for early next year. Hopefully the plan is to re-introduce the bill early. As soon as we know anything, I will pass it along.

[rgreen2002]

Brewhaus.... any chance this is getting torpedoed by "big likker"?

[Brewhaus]

There has been some push back, which seems to be the reason that the bill did not get to the floor. The bill was mostly for craft and the big guys, and I think that they tried to get our provision out, but Sen. Wyden remained supportive and insisted that it remained, so we all owe him a huge 'thank you'. If the bill had moved forward without us, then we would have lost the best vehicle to ride in.

Those who pushed back finally came to the table to work with us, but it looks like it was too little, too late. However, that may mean that things could be reintroduced and moved more quickly in the next session of Congress. At least, that is our hope.

[jdetechguy]

This is a travesty. We appreciate your work Rick. I bought a copy of your book. Hope that helps too.

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[Brewhaus]

Everything helps! Thank you so much.

[BoydLabBuck]

That stinks. It seems like it should be such an easy decision for the legislators.

[Brewhaus]

I agree. Unfortunately, this is politics. :-(

[brewstillski]

A damn shame. Great work on getting it this far, Brewhaus. Hope this gets in early next session. Thanks again for all your work, time, and effort on this.

[kekedog13]

Hey jdetech, What book is that ? I try to read everything
I can find on stillin'.

[dieselduo]

here it is kekedog13 http://www.brewhaus.com/The-Joy-of-Home-Distilling.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[Brewhaus]

Well, the last session of Congress closed without the bill that we were a part of being passed. It had tremendous support, but unfortunately, the bill never got to the floor.

The HDA made tremendous strides. For the first time we started to get recognition as a legitimate hobby. Legislators, as well as the TTB and Department of the Treasury were all very supportive of our effort. That means that much of the groundwork has been laid. While we need to get onto a new bill, this will not be as difficult of a task as it was the last time.

As many of you know, the HDA has been funded exclusively by membership fees and Brewhaus. Other than a few retailers, no other large suppliers in our industry have helped, and membership fees have been low, leaving a heavy load on us. After more than two and a half years, and over $60,000 funded by Brewhaus, it is time that we need to increase our funding if we are going to continue our fight. I am not entirely pulling the plug on funding, but I cannot continue to carry the bulk of the cost personally. Many of you have become members, and it is greatly appreciated. For those who have not, please consider the benefits that you will enjoy if and when our hobby becomes legal. Memberships start at just $30, and you can also make anonymous donations directly through the Hobby Distiller’s Association website (http://www.hobbydistillersassociation.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow).

To help in securing more funding, we have also started a GoFundMe campaign. This is an option for those who want to avoid being on any HDA list, although our list is kept entirely confidential. Most legislators are now well aware of our effort, so we are past the point of needing to supply a list to them to see how many people in their state are members. The GoFundMe campaign can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/federally-lega ... distilling" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow. Please share this with others that may also support our cause.

There are some upcoming tax bills that must be passed soon. Let’s keep our effort moving so that we can be included on one of those bills!

Thank you all for your support.

Rick

[LWTCS]

Will do sir.

[captainshooch]

Thank you for your efforts Rick. I have supported this from the get go and will continue to do so.

Dad used to say.."if at first you don't succeed, you must try and try again"...and you have shown that you have kept on trying...my hat is off to you sir.

Count on me to continue supporting this cause.

Hoochy

[rgreen2002]

It is a rarity to hit a home run your first time at bat...!

Rick... tremendous job and keep up the good work!

[FullySilenced]

Keep up the good work!

[nickbbb]

Just signed up and paid. Let's get this done this year!

[Tom Cowdrey]

Hello All,
The Hobby Distiller's Association is alive and well, but we do need financial help. It has been awhile since I last posted on this site. We have not been trying to keep anyone in the dark, but there has not been much we could say. I first posted the formation of the Hobby Distiller's Association on 3/19/14, almost 3 years ago. No one gave us much of a chance to succeed and we certainly had no idea where our efforts would lead. Our driving force was what was good for the goose was good for the gander and the current laws are not only unfair, they don't make common sense. I assure you that this has been a roller coaster ride.

When we first started our campaign (not my favorite word these days), many didn't know home distilling was illegal, few ever thought seriously about changing the laws and just the idea of going up against the federal and state governments was a herculean thought. However with the help of Senator Wyden and others we made friends on the Senate Finance Committee where our part of the bill was written. There had been efforts for a number of years to reduce the excise taxes on craft distilleries and wineries and when H. R 2903 was introduced, legalizing home distilling was part of it. As Rick mentioned, we than made 2 trips to DC to meet with the administrator of the TTB. These meeting were in no small part thanks to our lobbyist, Keith Nelson. Rick and Keith also met with a deputy in the tax revenue section (I can't remember the guys title, but you get the picture). The idea was to cover all the bases on the regulatory side of the equation. There were no objections to our ideas from either department.

By the end of 2016 there were 288 cosponsors to the House bill and 51 to the companion bill in the Senate. Again, as Rick said, the bills would have passed easily had they come to the floor for a vote. The folks in DC have heard of us now. It is not just the HDA, it is the whole idea that home distilling laws enacted in 1933 to prevent illegal alcohol sales are now obsolete. So what is next? We don't know. We hope that similar or identical bills will be re-introduced in the House/Senate in the very near future and we certainly hope to be part of them. All we can do is wait and see what happens. There is talk that our bill may get rolled into a bigger tax reduction bill. Talk is cheap in DC.

I have been pleading with everyone for almost 3 years to email your representatives in Congress and ask for their support of these bills. I emailed my reps (one more time) here in Virginia in December. Never heard from Senator Mark Warner. Got a phone call a few days ago from an aid in Senator Tim Kaine's office asking that I contact his office as soon as a new bill is introduced in the new Congress. Representative Rob Wittman (already a cosponsor of HR 2903) sent me a letter saying he continued to support our effort. Many are listening. Your emails will not be written in vain. I don't recommend phone calls unless you are personal friends with your representatives - they are to easily forgotten about and there is no record they were ever made.

We could not have gotten where we are today were it not for the help of Lobbyit.com. Lobbyists are an essential part of getting anywhere in DC, however they do no work for free which is why we need everyone's support. The long term goal for the HDA is to get the federal laws changed to our benefit and then work on the states that have similar laws to the feds. Thanks for reading . As always, if you have any questions or comments, I can be contacted here on the forum or at :

Tom Cowdrey
tocowdrey3@gmail.com
804-296-6194

[Brewhaus]

Thank you for the added input, Tom, and for outlining how things have progressed.

[YankeeShiner]

What ever happened with this? Is there still legislation out there to make home distilling legal? Is the Bill still HR 2903? What is the Senate version of the Bill?

[Brewhaus]

All bills that are not passed die at the end of the Congressional session, so we are now pushing to get included in one of the upcoming tax bills.

[rgreen2002]

What ever happened with this? Is there still legislation out there to make home distilling legal? Is the Bill still HR 2903? What is the Senate version of the Bill?

The senate bill was S.1562... you can find out more about the movement here: http://www.hobbydistillersassociation.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow and while you're there consider becoming a member for this worthy cause!

[Hank Reardon]

The death of this bill was easily predicted.

Read back a few pages, this isn't an Obama thing .

Now, this is the time. We have an irreverent type in the White House, and it will never be better than now to get back in queue.

Brew, ready to donate. Let me know.

Now is the time. We have about 18 months.

[Hillbilly Popstar]

What ever happened with this? Is there still legislation out there to make home distilling legal? Is the Bill still HR 2903? What is the Senate version of the Bill?

The senate bill was S.1562... you can find out more about the movement here: http://www.hobbydistillersassociation.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow and while you're there consider becoming a member for this worthy cause!

Do I get a sticker to put on my car like with the NRA?

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[Hillbilly Popstar]

But seriously...
I emailed my representative and received a generic response stating "Thanks for your concern, I am working hard everyday to make blah blah blah.... nothing about HR2903... blah blah blah". And now I am on their junk mail list.

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[rad14701]

Here is the real kicker when it comes to issues like this... Not trying to be a Negative Nellie but when it come to politicians they pay very little real attention to their constituents...

As an example, a few years back I contacted a local politician to raise concerns over a change in our state laws, voicing specific concerns in detail... What I got back was, more or less, the same generic rhetoric that every constituent receives as well as yet another copy of the law that I already know inside out, sideways, and backwards... Truth be told, that politician quite likely never even saw my letter at all and the issue was handled by a clueless assistant with my letter either being signed as it was passed under the politicians nose for signing or was rubber stamped...

If you do not get close enough to a politician be be able to wrap your hands around their throat, or simply shake their hand and have a heartfelt conversation, there is very little chance that they will ever slow down enough from other issues to take yours to heart... Without face to face interaction there is probably less than a 10% chance that the politician ever takes the time to fully acknowledge a constituents concerns... That's the sad truth about politics, at least here in the US...

[rgreen2002]

I don't disagree rad... it's $$ that gets you in the door and after that it's either charisma or more $$...

I though the best chance for this was to sneak it into another bill like it was planned. This way it gets harder to downvote...