I am a big fan of their products. (Click here for posts related to the 83rd Session)
The Texas Tribune reports that they have unfinished business and are testifying before legislative committees about further changes they would like to see in the 84th Session. Their principle complaint seems to be the current "three tiered" regulatory system which treats producers, distributors and sellers differently. Craft brewers argue that it encumbers a potential expansion of craft brewers.
- Click here for the article:
The 2013 legislative session, which featured the largest overhaul of the beer industry since 1993, was viewed by many observers as a watershed moment for craft brewers in Texas. But in testimony before the House Economic and Small Business Development Committee on Thursday, Scott Metzger, who sits on the board of the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, said the state can still do more for the industry.
At a hearing on how to make Texas more attractive to venture capital investment, Metzger predicted that over next 10 years, the brewing industry could be the most dynamic growth sector of the Texas economy. That potential is limited, he said, because of remaining restrictions on brewers that make it difficult to attract investors.
"The restrictions the state of Texas places on our businesses dictate that it often makes better economic sense to deploy capital in a different state," Metzger, a former economics professor, told lawmakers.
The trade association that represents Texas beer distributors, the Wholesale Beer Distributors of Texas, has previously pushed back against changes to the industry that it believes threaten the state's three-tier system, which divides producers, distributors and sellers so that the state can effectively oversee the alcohol industry.
. . . Asserting that New York, Washington, Colorado and even California had more brewer-friendly environments than Texas, Metzger said Thursday that the industry is encumbered locally by "restrictive franchise statutes" and "a regulatory scheme that restricts our ability to sell and market our products and, in one particularly egregious instance, to realize any of the actual value of the brands that we have created."
