 By MMBA Lobbyist Sarah J. Psick The following is a summary of the Omnibus Liquor bill (HF 2784) as put together by the House Commerce Committee. The Senate Commerce Committee assembled their Omnibus Liquor bill last week. Both bills are awaiting action on the House and Senate Floors. A special thanks to all of the MLBA and MMBA members that have come to hearings in the House and Senate the past few weeks to testify on issues. Section 1: Allows a farm winery to purchase and use bulk wine in an amount up to 10% of annual production. Section 2: Clarifies that a farm winery license must be issued only on agricultural land and exempts existing farm wineries. Section 3: Provides that if the University of Minnesota authorizes the sale of alcohol at the TCF football stadium for any college games or Minnesota Vikings games played at the stadium, the sale must be at locations that are convenient to the general public attending events. Section 4: Allow for the sale of up to six bottles of wine per person at an annual wine festival. Section 5: Creates a wine educator license on-sale license under specified circumstances. Section 6: Allows an exclusive liquor store to sell clothing marked with the name or logo of the liquor store. Section 7: Allows an exclusive liquor store to conduct classes for a fee and to allow takings at the classes. Section 8: Allows a once per year exception to state laws to allow out of state craft brewers to bring in beer for a festival in Winnebago, Minnesota. Requires that brand registration laws be complied with. Section 9: Allows Moorhead to issue an on-sale license to the Bluestem Center for the Arts. Section 10: Allows Minneapolis to extend liquor licensing to a liquor store (Broadway Liquor) damaged by the 2011 tornado. What is not in the House Omnibus Liquor bill: * Repeal of the prohibition against multiple off-sale licenses in a city * Off-sale of growlers at a liquor store * Primary Source for distilled spirits * Buyers Card provisions during a government shutdown * Removing dram shop insurance for farm wineries * Allowing persons age 18, but under 21, to drink with parents at a bar Policy Committee Deadlines: The House and Senate have met the first and second policy committee deadlines that were set by Leadership in both bodies. What this means is that if a policy bill has not been passed through committee in both the House and Senate, the bill is "dead" for the session. In order for a bill that missed deadline to continue to be considered this session, it would have to be sent through the House and/or Senate Rules Committee for the deadline violation to be waived. The next committee deadline is Friday, March 30, 2012 for committees to act on major appropriation and finance bills. Bonding Bill: The House Capital Investment Committee rolled out the Omnibus Bonding bill this week and it was passed by the Committee on Wednesday. The bill, which was passed in two sections, provides $500 million in general obligation bonds: $220 million for State Capitol restoration and $280 million for other bonding priorities. Included in the $280 million of bonding priorities are projects for higher education, the Department of Natural Resources, local bridges and roads, wastewater infrastructure, public housing and other projects. The even-numbered year of a biennium is typically a "bonding" year. The $280 million for state bonding priorities, and $500 million total bill, is significantly smaller than past bonding years. Examples of previous bonding bill levels include: * 2010: $999.6 million bonding bill ($686 million after Governor vetoes); * 2008: $882.5 million bonding total; * 2006: $948 million bonding bill; and * 2005: $885 million bonding bill. The Minnesota Constitution provides that passage of a bonding bill requires a vote of at least three-fifths of the members of each body in the legislature - or 81 votes in the House and 41 votes in the Senate. Voter ID Constitutional Amendment: HF 2738 (Kiffmeyer, R- Big Lake) to put a "Voter ID" Constitutional Amendment on the November ballot passed the House Floor by a vote of 72-62 after nine hours of heated debate. The proposed Constitutional Amendment will ask Minnesota voters the question should a government-issued photo ID be required for voting. The sponsor of the bill and other Republicans argue the bill is needed to prevent voter fraud. Opponents of the bill and DFLers argue such a requirement will disenfranchise voters in Minnesota. The bill passed along party lines with all Republicans voting for the bill and all Democrats voting against the bill. The Senate bill is authored by Sen. Newman (R - Hutchinson) and was passed by the Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday. It is expected to pass the full Senate in a Friday afternoon session. Constitutional amendments do not require the approval of the Governor, nor are they eligible for a veto by the Governor. So, once approved by the House and Senate the proposed Constitutional amendment will be placed on the November, 2012 ballot. Next Week: Friday, March 30 is the third deadline for committees to act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills. A few finance related bills are working their way through the legislature and will need to meet this deadline next week. In December, the Speaker of the House set out a schedule for the Legislature which included a break for the Easter/Passover holidays from April 6 - 13 and adjournment of the session sine die by April 30, 2012. Many rumors are swirling around the Capitol that a growing number of legislators would like to finish their work and adjourn sine die by April 5 - before the legislative break. If this is to happen it would mean the work on the remaining issues would need to be kicked into high gear. Stay tuned. | 
