Time to get involved: Public Beer Laws Forum this Thursday at Yards

I'm going to be on the panel at another Philly Beer Scene Beer Laws Forum at Yards Brewing again, this Thursday at 7 PM. Hope you can come out; we had about 100 people last time, and I'd love to see more of you this time. Details on the forum can be found here, but I'd like to use this post to get you prepped up for the debate.

The panel's going to be State Senator Chuck McIlhinney, representing the PA Legislature, Bill Covaleski of Victory Brewing, representing the brewers of Pennsylvania, and Mike Gretz Sr. of Gretz Beer Distributors, representing the beer wholesalers, Tom Kehoe of Yards, who is moderating the thing, and me, who's pretty much representing you, the beer drinker...or as I like to call us, the fourth tier.

We wanted to let you know what kind of things are going to come up. These are some questions we've been tossing around.

• First and most important: what can people do that's effective to stand for what they believe in about changing the state's liquor code? How do we effect change through the Legislature?
• We'd like to ask you, our beer-centric audience, how much spirits you buy in PA. Do you buy much wine and spirits at all, and when you do, do you buy them here, or do you cross the border. We'll do a show of hands, but if you want to comment here, that's good too. We'd also like to know if privatization of the state liquor stores interests you...and if it does, where do beer sales fit in that?
• Why is a simple sixpack sale change to the Liquor Code is so hard to make when Pennsylvanians overwhelmingly support it?
• What do you want? Do you want to do away with the case law? Privatize the state stores and make them "all alcohol" stores? Sell beer and wine in every grocery store? Or just increase the number of licenses? 
• And what seems like a very simple, reasonable request from Tom Peters at Monk's Cafe: Can it be arranged that a restaurant licensee could get a "one-time" permit to receive beer from a currently unregistered brewery, pay the applicable taxes, and not have to go through an Importing Distributor?

That's what we're thinking about. We hope you're thinking about coming out Thursday night. Remember: privatization isn't over, the sixpack law change isn't over, they're just on legislative holiday. Next year it all starts up again, and we want something to happen. This is where that starts. 

And yes, the bar at the brewery will be open for business. Debating is thirsty work.

Action on the PLCB blog

I know, I know: I don't have Part II on the PLCB hearings up yet. But I do have several new posts up on the PLCB blog, including this one on Stapletonstein's Monster (or, The Wine Kiosk That Refused To Die!) and this one on how the upcoming PA Supreme Court decision on the incredibly controversial (!!!!) 'beer in supermarkets' issue is really a no-win for beer distributors because of bad strategy. There's also a new poll...that's just slightly tongue-in-cheek.

Pennsylvania Beer Debate tonight on PCN

Just in from Sheetz's "Free My Beer" campaign...the PCN channel will be showing a live debate between MBDA president Dave Shipula and Sheetz general counsel Mike Cortez, tonight at 7 PM. I can't watch this, or call in, prior commitments. Feel free to take any points I may have brought up in the past and make a call!

An URGENT update from Free My Beer

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The fight to free your beer continues tonight!
You are receiving this urgent update because you are one of more than 125,000 people who signed a petition to make the purchase of beer in Pennsylvania more convenient.

Mike Cortez, VP and General Counsel for Sheetz will go head-to-head with Dave Shipula, President of the Malt Beverage Distributors of PA debating the issue of how beer is sold in Pennsylvania in a live call-in show on “PCN Live” tonight at 7:00 p.m. They will take your comments and questions on the air.

If you want to voice your opinion on the way beer should be sold in Pennsylvania, we want you to call in! 1-877-726-5001.

The PLCB (and Sheetz) vs. PA Beer Distributors

Yesterday, there was a Pennsylvania Supreme Court hearing on the lawsuit the Pennsylvania Malt Beverage Distributors Association (MBDA) brought against the PLCB for granting a 'deli license' to a Sheetz 'convenience store' ('quotes' used because this place is huge, and includes a 60-seat restaurant with 4,000 sq. ft. of floor space).

Some interesting points:

Sheetz currently sells only takeout beer in Altoona. The distributors' association contends that the store also should have to serve beer to restaurant patrons for consumption on the premises. (from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

The MBDA's attorney argued that by granting the license to a retailer that did not intend to serve on-premise, ‘‘The [liquor board] authorized venues to sell beer that the Legislature never intended,’’ Robert Hoffman, attorney for the distributors’ group, told the justices. (from the Altoona Mirror)

Mr. Wolowski (the lawyer representing Sheetz) told the justices that Sheetz is willing to serve beer in the Altoona store if that is required. A lawyer for Wegmans, which was not a party to the Sheetz case, signaled a similar willingness. (Post-Gazette)

Liquor board attorney Rodrigo Diaz said liquor licensees are granted the privilege to sell alcoholic beverages, but not required to sell them. "You get a license from us, you don't have a duty to sell," Mr. Diaz said. (Post-Gazette)

Some justices debated the merits of allowing alcoholic beverages to be sold by businesses that not so long ago were not even considered. When Justice Seamus McCaffery called the Sheetz store "a gas station," Justice Debra Todd asserted that it is more than that. "They sell creme brulee," she said.

Fascinating. Where is the justification for finding that these two businesses cannot hold a license? Is it because Sheetz sells gas? So what? If a store that currently operated as a deli decided to start selling gas, would that invalidate its deli license? If it did, why? People -- legislators and judges -- seem to have this bizarre idea that if beer is sold in gasoline stations, where people drive in to get gas in their cars, they will automatically drive away sucking on a cold longneck. As opposed to driving to a restaurant or bar, where they will suck on the cold longneck before they drive away? If a supermarket has a license to sell beer, how is that different from a tavern or deli with the same kind of license to sell beer?

Note to the PA legislature: look at how the wind's blowing. People want sixpacks. Don't bobble the sixpack sale legislation still being considered.