HEADLINE: Tennessee wine in grocery stores bill fails by one vote
THE RECAP: A bill allowing grocery stores to sell wine failed by one vote in a House committee Tuesday, but a door could open to revive the legislation. Matthew Hill, R-Jonesborough, cast a surprise vote to kill the bill because he didn’t feel amendments to the bill were given a fair chance.
DREW’S VIEW: Legislation to allow wine sales in grocery stores was expected to pass, finally, this spring. And for good reason. Wine in grocery stores would create jobs, generate revenue, invite choice and competition and make wine purchases more convenient. As a result, the plan was favored by 78 percent of participants in a Times Free Press online poll this week.
So why would eight lawmakers in the House Local Government Committee vote against a popular idea that brings liberty and common sense to Tennessee’s antiquated wine laws? The $364,000 that the liquor wholesalers and package stores donated to state lawmakers over the past two years in an effort to keep the cartel-creating wine laws that benefit them in place probably has a lot to do with it.
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