Posted: | December 5, 2012 10:21 AM |
---|---|
From: | Senator Lawrence M. Farnese, Jr. |
To: | All Senate members |
Subject: | Direct Wine Shipment |
In the near future, I plan to introduce a direct wine shipping bill that would mirror language that passed the Senate on March 28, 2012. This language was the final product of Senate Bill 790 last session, introduced by Senator Jane Earll. This bill is necessary, as a US Supreme court ruling in 2005 decided that the states could not treat out-of-state wineries differently than in-state wineries regarding their ability to ship directly to residents. This effectively rendered Pennsylvania’s shipping laws unconstitutional. However, Pennsylvania has not yet addressed this to bring our state shipping laws into compliance with the Granholm decision. This legislation would address the Supreme Court decision by allowing Pennsylvania consumers to purchase wine through direct mail from any winery (in-state and out-of-state) that has the capability to ship directly. All wineries must be issued a direct wine shipper license in order to ship directly to consumers. The bill is meant to expand consumer choice while still enabling Pennsylvania wineries to maintain their ability to sell direct to consumers, which makes up a considerable amount of sales for many of them. I encourage you to sponsor this important consumer choice issue that has garnered bipartisan support. |
Introduced as SB36