Sunday, August 14, 2005

Michigan agenda

Wine delivery issue still unsettled

House bill would eliminate all shipments; Senate calls for 24 cases a year for individuals.

By Mark Hornbeck / Detroit News Lansing Bureau

This week's agenda • The state treasurer and directors of the House and Senate fiscal agencies meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the House Appropriations Room on the third floor of the Capitol to decide how much money the state has to spend in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. • The Senate Technology & Energy Committee meets at 3 p.m. Wednesday in Room 210 of the Farnum Building, across from the Capitol, for an advice and consent hearing on Gov. Jennifer Granholm's appointment of Monica Martinez to the Public Service Commission. Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

LANSING -- Will Michigan ban all wine shipments or allow a couple dozen cases to be shipped to individual residents each year?

That question remains unsettled in the wake of a May U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said states can allow or prohibit home deliveries of wine, but they must treat in-state and out-of-state wineries the same. As it stands, in-state wineries are shipping their product to state residents, out-of-state wine producers and distributors are not.

A House bill would eliminate all shipments of wine, the position advocated by the Beer and Wine Wholesalers, which spent more than $400,000 on campaign contributions to lawmakers last year. A Senate bill would allow individuals to take delivery of 24 cases a year, the stance preferred by owners of the state's 32 wineries, who have the ear of legislators in northern and southwestern Michigan, where they're located.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm has said she would like to see a compromise under which some shipments are permitted. The issue is expected to be hot when lawmakers return to a full schedule next month.

"We've been meeting with legislators on our side," said Bill Nowling, a spokesman for the Beer and Wine Wholesalers.

"It comes down to whether lawmakers think the current three-tiered system of liquor distribution in the state works. If you allow direct shipments of wine, you take the state out of the control process. There's no way to regulate it. And it's just a matter of time before liquor distributors and producers will want to go direct."

Sen. Michelle McManus, R-Lake Leelanau, sponsor of the bill that would allow wine shipments, has several wineries in her district. She says they rely on direct shipments for a large chunk of their sales.

"It's critical for the Michigan wine industry to allow some sort of compromise," she said.

"An outright ban would be a killer to their business. That would be damaging to both agriculture and tourism in this state."

You can reach Mark Hornbeck at (313) 222-2470 or mhornbeck@detnews.com.