Urgent – California Homebrewers Association needs your help!!!
On October 1, 2013, Governor Brown signed into law a Committee Bill that is being interpreted by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to prohibit homebrew festivals like ours.The bill was originally written to allow the donation of home brewed beer and wine to be used for fundraising purposes by worthy non-profit organizations, but excludes groups that <i>“promote home production of beer or wine, or whose membership is composed primarily of home brewers or home winemakers”.
The bill was introduced by the California Assembly Committee on Governmental Organizations, whose intent was to make the sharing of home brewed wine and beer easier, not harder. However, at some point in the process, wording was added that excludes the CHA from conducting our festival for So Cal homebrewers.
Two major issues face us:
1) An amendment to the bill is needed to allow our festival, which is an annual event, and to allow AHA to have their annual convention again in California. We have already started our outreach and will work to have the bill amended.
2) Our 2014 annual event is in jeopardy. We are researching language that was placed in the bill, since we believe that it was not meant to stop well-run events for homebrewers, but was meant to stop event promoters from hiding under non-profit groups in order to make money. We will keep our members informed through local clubs representatives.
What can you do?
1) Read the bill for yourself. It is available on this website.
2) Write your local California Assemblymember and State Senator asking for the bill to be amended and for our 2014 event to be allowed to move forward as planned. Sample letters will be available through your local homebrew clubs. Sample letters are available through your local homebrew club. You can find contact information for the clubs in your area on this website.
3) Donate to the CHA legal fund. Seeing a new bill through the legislative process is a costly endeavor and we need all the help we can get. Please click on the Donate icon below to contribute financially to our cause.
4) DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! We need you to act now!
[donateextra]