Use our sample letter to send to committee members regarding bill: SB1312

Please consider contacting your state representatives immediately with a letter registering your concern that this bill is being moved forward without the entire industry being involved. The bill should at best be pulled from this session so the industry can study it. If you feel more strongly you can of course recommend it being voted down.

They meet Tuesday 1/19

B1312 (https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?211+sum+SB1312)

Folks in Virginia, please email your state senators asap to kill bill SB1312 (https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?211+sum+SB1312), specifically those senators in the Senate Appropriations Committee:

D-Senator Howell district32@senate.virginia.gov

D-Senator Saslaw district35@senate.virginia.gov

R-Senator Norment district03@senate.virginia.gov

R-Senator Hanger district24@senate.virginia.gov

D-Senator Lucas district18@senate.virginia.gov

R-Senator Newman district23@senate.virginia.gov

R-Senator Ruff district15@senate.virginia.gov

R-Senator Vogel district27@senate.virginia.gov

D-Senator Barker district39@senate.virginia.gov

D-Senator Edwards district21@senate.virginia.gov

D-Senator Deeds district21@senate.virginia.gov

D-Senator Locke district02@senate.virginia.gov

D-Senator Petersen district34@senate.virginia.gov

D-Senator Marsden district37@senate.virginia.gov

D-Senator Ebbin district30@senate.virginia.gov

D-Senator McClellan district09@senate.virginia.gov

CONSIDERATIONS:

1) This bill has been purported to be modeled after the Virginia Wine Board (VWB). There are significant and concerning differences. a. The Virginia Wine Board funding mechanism of a liter-tax on wine was not a “selfassessment” tax: the wine industry was *already* paying the Commonwealth an excise tax, and a portion of that tax was re-allocated to the governance of the Wine Board; no new taxes were added. This was a “Win/Win” for both the Commonwealth and the Wine industry. b. The proposal for funding the Virginia Wine Board via these re-allocated (existing) tax revenues was presented to all Virginia wineries and received overwhelming support from Virginia wineries well prior to the introduction of legislation.

2) This is a *new* tax: the bill proposes to provide the Virginia Distillery Board (“VDB”) authorization to enact a new tax on all spirits produced and sold within the Commonwealth by Virginia distilleries. a. The VDB is Governor appointed and thus subject to change of leadership. b. The proposal authorizes the VDB to assign any amount of tax (up to $1/liter). c. Many distilleries supported establishing the VDB last legislative session with the assumption of funding based on the Virginia Wine Board model – that a portion of existing Virginia ABC revenues would be reallocated toward funding the VDB.