posted May 9, 2013, 4:29 PM by Brant Warren
Governor Bentley signed HB9 this evening! Effective immediately, homebrewing is legal in Alabama!!!!
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posted May 7, 2013, 8:11 PM by Brant Warren
After a drama-filled day for us listening to the Senate, and
after all hope seemed long lost, they brought up HB9 unexpectedly, out
of the blue, and passed it 18 - 7 - 1 tonight, without a single word of
debate. The Alabama Homebrew Bill has passed the Legislature!!!!
It goes to Governor Bentley now. Although he has indicated that
he supports the bill, we need to make sure he knows thousands of
Alabamians want him to sign it. This is the one, last step needed
before Homebrewing is legal in Alabama, and in all 50 states! So,
please go to http://governor.alabama.gov/contact/contact_form.aspx,
and fill out the form with your information. Choose "Legislative
Session 2013" from the "Email Concerning which Issue"
choices. And in the "Comments", in your own words, politely ask the
governor to sign HB9, the Homebrew Bill. Try to get as many people as
you can to do this! We know our prohibitionists opposition will be
writing him, and we must vastly overwhelm their numbers!!!
Major thanks go to Senator Bill Holtzclaw for seeing this through,
and to Representative Mac McCutcheon for many years of work. None of
this would have been possible without our bills' sponsors. And
especially, none of this would have happened without you, the grassroots
organization who has brought Alabama to the verge of ending the
Prohibition of Homebrew! Thank you, all!
---
Right To Brew
http://www.alahomebrewing.org |
posted May 6, 2013, 6:44 PM by Brant Warren
[
updated May 6, 2013, 6:58 PM
]
We are hearing from Montgomery that HB9 has a very good chance of being on the Senate's Special Order Calendar for Tuesday, May 7. The Senate convenes at noon, and that gives us all morning long for everyone to call his/her senator one more time, asking them to vote Yes for the Homebrew Bill. If you don't know your senator's State House phone number, look it up: http://www.freethehops.org/legislative/. Make sure your senator knows you want the Right To Brew, just like everybody in 49 other states already has! |
posted May 6, 2013, 4:51 AM by Brant Warren
[
updated May 6, 2013, 4:53 AM
]
Get your friends and family to call, too. It is becoming critical. As of today, Monday, May 6, there are only 3 more Legislative Days left in the session. If HB9 does not get a vote by then, it dies, just like last year's Homebrew Bill did. The Senate will likely meet tomorrow, Thursday, and then for the last time Monday, May 20. We really need the vote to happen this week if at all possible. |
posted Apr 18, 2013, 6:03 AM by Brant Warren
[
updated Apr 18, 2013, 6:06 AM
]
The Alabama Homebrew Bill, HB9, was reported favorably by the Senate Job
Creation and Economic Development Committee yesterday afternoon. The
next step is for the whole Senate to vote on it. If HB9 gets approved
by the Senate, then it goes to the governor to sign into law!
But first, it must be chosen out of the large stack of available bills
to be placed on the Senate's agenda for a vote. The Senate Rules
Committee defines each day's agenda on what is called a Special Order
Calendar. In fact, there will be only eight more Legislative Days left
in the session for HB9 to be placed on a Special Order Calendar.
Those days will span about the next month's time, but this means we
have only 8 more opportunities to earn our Right To Brew....
So, what can you do to help? Contact some or all members of the
Alabama Senate Rules Committee and politely ask them to please allow
HB9 to get a vote by placing it on a Special Order Calendar as soon as
possible. Last year's Homebrew Bill died because the Senate never
brought it up for a vote. We must not let that happen again this year!
The following senators constitute the Rules Committee. You will be
surprised how quickly you can go through the list of phone numbers, one
by one, asking the senators' assistants who answer something like,
"Please allow HB9, the Homebrew Bill, to get its chance for a vote by
placing it on a Special Order Calendar." Or, if you prefer, several of
the senators have email addresses listed.
Thank you all for helping pass HB9, the Alabama Homebrew Bill!
Senate Rules Committee Members
------------------------------
Senator Jabo Waggoner, Chair
(334) 242-7892
jabo.waggoner@alsenate.gov
Senator Jimmy Holley, Vice Chair
(334) 242-7845
Senator Scott Beason
(334) 242-7794
Senator Roger Bedford
(334) 242-7862
senbedford@aol.com
Senator Gerald Dial
(334) 242-7874
Senator Priscilla Dunn
(334) 242-7793
Senator Vivian Figures
(334) 242-7871
vivian.figures@alsenate.gov
Senator Rusty Glover
(334) 242-7886
Senator Tammy Irons
(334) 242-7888
tammy@ironslawfirm.com
Senator Arthur Orr
(334) 242-7891
http://www.arthurorr.com/contact
Senator Trip Pittman
(334) 242-7897
trip.pittman@alsenate.gov
Senator Paul Sanford
(334) 242-7867
paul.sanford@alsenate.gov
Senator Clay Scofield
(334) 242-7876
clay.scofield@alsenate.gov
Senator Paul Bussman
(334) 242-7855
p_bussman@bellsouth.net
---
Right To Brew
http://www.alahomebrewing.org |
posted Apr 16, 2013, 6:04 AM by Brant Warren
HB9 is expected to successfully move forward from its Senate committee tomorrow afternoon. Once again, time in the Legislative Session is starting to run short, so be prepared for an action alert to push for getting HB9 on a Special Order Calendar for a full Senate vote.
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posted Apr 2, 2013, 4:05 PM by Brant Warren
After 1 hour and 59 grueling minutes of opponents filibustering and offering outlandish amendments to our bill this afternoon, HB9 passed the House by a healthy margin of 58-33. Thank you to everyone who called and wrote their representatives in support! This is a huge step forward, and now HB9 moves to the Senate. Be ready to start writing and calling senators, and we will earn our Right To Brew this year!
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posted Mar 29, 2013, 4:45 AM by Brant Warren
Homebrewers, craft beer enthusiasts, and everyone who respects personal
freedom, it is time for all of us to email and/or call our Alabama
House representatives! HB9, the Alabama Homebrew Bill, is scheduled for
a vote in the House of Representatives this Tuesday, April 2. Our
neo-prohibitionists opposition is out in force, and it is critical that
we outnumber their calls against our bill. It is up to all of us to
ensure that Alabama is not left alone in Homebrew Prohibition this year.
This page on our website will help you find your representative's email
address (if he/she has one), and State House phone number, along with
some advice for what to say: http://www.alahomebrewing.org/contact-your-representatives. It is quicker and easier than you probably think.
Even if you have already emailed or called your representative earlier
this session, now is the time to do it again! Sending a reminder
shortly before the vote is always a good idea. Never forget, your
voice as a constituent carries weight.
Thank you all for helping pass HB9, the Alabama Homebrew Bill!
---
Right To Brew
http://www.alahomebrewing.org |
posted Mar 16, 2013, 12:54 PM by Brant Warren
The Alabama Homebrew Bills are still waiting for their turns to get
a vote. Remember, both successfully made it out of committee last
month. Since then the House of Representatives version, HB9, made it
on the agenda for a vote a couple of weeks ago. However, the House did
not make it through all of the listed bills that day, so we are back
to waiting again. SB171, the Senate version of the Homebrew Bill, has
not yet made it on the Senate's agenda. As you may have heard, the
Legislature has slowed down due to some political issues completely
unrelated to us. They should get back up to normal speed soon, but what
can we do in the mean time?
Write our legislators! That's right, emailing a short, polite
message is the absolute easiest way to ask your representative and
senator to support HB9 and SB171. Be respectful, and be sure to thank
them for taking the time to read your message. Of course, calling them
on the phone is also a very effective way to express your support for
the bills, but it's best to do that during business hours.
If you need help finding who your legislators are, or their phone
numbers or email addresses (if yours has email...), this should help: http://www.alahomebrewing.org/contact-your-representatives. For mailing addresses, you will need to go to the official Alabama Legislature website, http://www.legislature.state.al.us
(which, ironically, seems to be down right now, but try later), and
find your lawmakers by name there. If you need help, email us at info@alahomebrewing.org, and we'll help you through it.
One more thing. If you have already contacted your representative
and senator, then do it again from time to time until we get our
votes. We need to make sure Homebrewing stays on their minds. After
all, every one of us makes up the Right To Brew grassroots effort, and
our collective voices are our power and influence!
---
Right To Brew
http://www.alahomebrewing.org |
posted Mar 12, 2013, 8:04 AM by Brant Warren
[
updated Mar 12, 2013, 8:04 AM
]
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