JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The “beer bill” gained final approval in the House today, after the House committee substitute was stripped in the face of a possible filibuster in the Senate.
SB 919 originally passed the Senate in March, and the House committee substitute was added in early April. Then the bill waited while the House negotiated with the Senate to make sure the bill would gain final approval with the House amendments.
When an agreement couldn’t be worked out, Rep. Robert Cornejo, R-St. Peters, asked that the body strip the HCS. He argued that the amendments were clarifying language and that the concessions made to the small brewers in the Senate were still present in the bill.
“Every single accommodation will still be in this bill after we strip off the House committee substitute,” he said.
Among those concessions, he said the bill still limits the number of coolers allowed to be leased, still has the three-year sunset, still limits a lease to 5 years, limits cooler size to 40 cubic feet, specifies that the retailer has total and complete autonomy over what goes in cooler, the coolers can still only be leased for the purchase price plus 2 percent, still makes clear that this is a voluntary program, and does not mandate advertising.
Many of these concessions had been made because the bill’s opponents had been worried that the bill was large brewers attempting to force out small brewers after losing much of their market share over the past several years. Among those opponents was Rep. Keith English, I-Florissant, who also argued the bill could circumvent the three-tier system.
“Yes there’s been some provisions in the Senate bill that were palatable. But they left out the definition of what a brewery really is,” English said. He had offered an amendment in the House that clarified that a brewery was limited to only one overall company.
Cornejo countered that that amendment wasn’t necessary after checking the application for the manufacturer’s license. It requires that the one entity include every brewery they own on their application. He said that would limit these large companies to only being able to rent one cooler.
English also argued that the bill would circumvent the state’s three tier distribution system.
But Rep. Bob Burns, D-St. Louis, who worked for a distributor for 33 years, countered that claim.
“Do you think I’d be standing on this floor and supporting this bill if it was going to hurt where I made my living for 33 years,” he asked.
Among those who supported stripping the substitute were Rep. John McCaherty, R-High Ridge, chairman of the Small Business Committee that heard the bill and added the substitute.
“I agree with you. First off, I think all of the provisions that we wanted to clarify, those were clarifying amendments to me.”
Cornejo, in closing, argued that if the body supports the free market, they should support his bill.
“We hear day in and day out that people support free market legislation. But then we hear during this debate that we have to protect the small guys. Do you know what supporting the small guys is? It’s government interference.”
The substitute was stripped and the bill was truly agreed and finally passed 94-59.
