Craft brewers form a PAC
Craft brewers are asking beer fans to put their money where their thirst is.
Six weeks before state primary elections, the Texas Craft Brewers Guild on Monday launched a political action committee to raise money and awareness to challenge “archaic, anticompetitive beer laws” it says are holding back an industry poised for dramatic growth.
The PAC already has raised more than $40,000 from among its approximately 250 brewery members, with the largest individual donations coming from the owners of Austin Beerworks and Saint Arnold, Live Oak and Deep Ellum Brewing Cos. Much of the money raised by the new CraftPAC will go to back state legislative candidates who support the brewers’ agenda, guild executive director Charles Vallhonrat said.
CraftPAC so far has donated $1,000 each to two incumbent legislators — one Democrat and one Repub-
lican — in the Austin area.
“We intend to influence where we can,” Vallhonrat said.
Brewers long have argued that key changes in state law could provide a major boost to a business that already generates more than $4 billion in annual economic impact. Among the changes sought is the right for breweries to sell some beer directly to customers to drink off premises. Wineries, distillers and even brewpubs can do that, and Texas is the only state to legally prohibit its breweries from such sales.
Legislation that would allow direct to-go sales has consistently failed in Texas. Vallhonrat blames opposition from the state’s powerful wholesalers lobby, citing its $18 million in campaign donations made over the past decade.
“It tells me that there are specific special interests involved in passing legislation,” he said.
Rick Donley, president of the Beer Alliance of Texas, an active wholesalers group, declined to comment.
Under the headline, “Beer laws in Texas are broken,” the CraftPAC website outlines craft beer’s contributions to the state economy, the influence of the distributors who control how most beer gets from producers to retailers, and the legal changes the PAC supports. It cites figures from followthemoney.org, a website that tracks money in state politics, showing Texas to be the No. 1 state for campaign contributions from alcohol wholesalers.
Brock Wagner, founder of the Houston craft brewer Saint Arnold, said craft beer drinkers understand the ramifications of state law for breweries. He said customers already ask how and where they can make donations. CraftPAC gives them a place to do so.
Wagner, one of four $10,000 donors, said he wants to see the money used to support brewer-friendly lawmakers, including some in the Houston area. He said he was not yet aware of any lawmakers being targeted for defeat by the PAC.
Vallhonrat said strategies for the PAC and the guild ahead of the 2019 legislative session are still being developed.
“Clearly, to-go sales for manufacturing breweries will be a priority,” he said. “The consumers have a direct interest in improving the beer laws because it improves their access to that beer.”
The guild is still smarting over a 2013 measure that prohibits breweries from earning money by selling territorial distribution rights and a law passed last year that forces breweries of a certain size to sell and buy back their own beer before offering it in their taprooms, cutting into profit margins.
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