gruntingfrog
Well-Known Member
House Resolution 3949 has been introduced by Rep. Stupak from Michigan. This would expand home brewing/winemaking laws at the Federal level to include distilling. The individual states would have to then pass their own laws, but it opens the door. I drafted the following letter to my Representative who happens to be on the Ways and Means Committee where the resolution will be discussed. I chose to highlight the benefits to the industry, instead of just saying, "I wanna make whisky. Can I? Can I?"
If you would like to see this go through, please feel free to use this letter as a template to send to your Representative.
Here are some links to help.
Members of the House Committee on Ways and Means
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/committee.xpd?id=HSWM
Write Your Representative - Insert state and zip code and it will allow you to send email to the correct Rep.
https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml
If you would like to see this go through, please feel free to use this letter as a template to send to your Representative.
Here are some links to help.
Members of the House Committee on Ways and Means
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/committee.xpd?id=HSWM
Write Your Representative - Insert state and zip code and it will allow you to send email to the correct Rep.
https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml
Dear [REPRESENTATIVE],
H.R. 3949 introduced by Rep. Stupak of Michigan is currently in the House Committee on Ways and Means, and I hope you have time to consider the economic benefit this bill would provide to the spirits manufacturing industry.
The craft/micro beer industry in the United States has seen immense growth over the last 30 years, bringing competition, jobs, and quality products to an industry which had remained stagnant for decades. This has occurred simultaneously with a dramatic increase in the popularity of "home brewing" made legal in 1978 with the passage of 26 USCS § 5053(e) exempting taxes on the manufacture of small amounts of beer for personal use.
Home brewing does not stifle sales in the beer industry or reduce the tax revenue from beer manufacture. On the contrary, the small scale and cost of home brew batches (typically 5 gallons) allows for experimentation and innovation which is cost-prohibitive on a large commercial scale. This innovation benefits commercial brewers who often take the popularity of certain styles and techniques among the home brewing community as preliminary market research allowing commercial breweries to produce new beer styles known to have revenue potential. Additionally, the growth of small commercial breweries is directly attributable to home brewing as many micro-brewers learned their craft in a home brewing environment before opening their own commercial brewery.
H.R. 3949 would provide the same dramatic benefits to the spirits industry by allowing the home manufacture of distilled spirits in small quantities for personal use. I hope you see that this would be a boon to the industry and consumers providing the opportunity for similar growth and improvement in spirits as we’ve seen in beer manufacture over the past 30 years.
Thank you,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR CITY/STATE]