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Saturday, February 25, 2006

Ind. Law - More on: Garton kills wine bill compromise, says let court decide

Donovan Estridge of The Madison Courier reports today in a story headlined "Senate leader kills wine shipping compromise" that:

After months of negotiating and compromising, a bill limiting direct shipping for Indiana wineries was killed Thursday night by the Senate leader. His action took Jefferson County winery owners by surprise.

The bill was killed by Senate Pro Tem Robert Garton, R-Columbus, because of a pending lawsuit on the issue. The lawsuit, Baud vs. Indiana, challenges the state’s three-tier system for wine shipping. Garton said he killed the bill so the Senate would not become involved in deciding the outcome of lawsuits.

On Wednesday, local winemakers traveled to Indianapolis to attend a Senate Commerce and Transportation committee hearing on the bill. During the four-hour committee meeting, a compromise was reached between state wineries and wholesalers that would allow wineries to continue shipping their products.

“This is a total left-field surprise,” Thomas Family Winery owner Steven Thomas said this morning. “I am absolutely 100 percent surprised. I walked in this morning and haven’t been able to drink my coffee yet.”

Thomas and Madison Vineyards owners Sandy and Steve Palmer were in Indianapolis when a compromise was reached Wednesday. After the committee hearing, they claimed victory for the wine industry. The victory was short-lived, though, when the bill was killed 24 hours later.

“We are now at the mercy of the courts,” Sandy Palmer said.

As local wineries try to piece together the facts behind the legislative action, they must sift through unknown territory. During the committee hearing Wednesday, wholesalers and winemakers agreed that if no legislative action is taken, the state’s wine industry will enter a quagmire of litigation.

In Kentucky, a bill is still pending, but it "would require in-state wineries to go through wholesalers," reports this AP story published by the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 25, 2006 05:21 PM
Posted to Indiana Law