House Republicans failed to defeat Rep. Kent Coleman’s (D-49) amendment to a booze bill in the House yesterday.
Rep. Coleman’s amendment allows voters to decide if they want liquor stills built in their communities. A Republican led attempt to defeat this amendment failed Wednesday just as it did the week before.
As written, Rep. Joe Carr’s (R-48) booze bill would have forced any county whose voters approved liquor stores to also allow liquor stills whether they want them or not. Rep. Coleman’s amendment takes that decision away from lawmakers in the back pocket of liquor lobbyists and puts it back in the hands of the voters.
Rep. Carr attempted to kill Rep. Coleman’s amendment on May 14 on behalf of liquor lobbyists but failed to get support from House members. Republicans returned Wednesday with a second attempt to kill Rep. Coleman’s amendment by forcing counties to accept liquor stills whether they want them or not. The Republican effort was withdrawn yesterday after a considerable outcry from House members who wanted their voters to make these decisions for themselves. Several of Rep. Carr’s own Republican colleagues had filed amendments to exclude their counties from his booze bill.
Sen. Bill Ketron (R-13), the Senate bill’s author, stated on WPLN today that he would support the bill and its amendments, but we’ll see about that once the bill goes to committee. If the amendment is stripped by liquor lobbyists, voters could bring lawsuits against the state for retroactively changing what their votes on liquor store referendums meant for their communities.
Another amendment Republicans might try to strip from the bill in committee is an amendment by Rep. Curt Cobb (D-62) that would protect churches. Rep. Cobb’s amendment requires liquor stills to abide by liquor store zoning rules that prevent them from selling liquor next to churches. The amendment is opposed by liquor lobbyists who want the right to sell liquor anywhere they want.
Also read:
- Liquor lobbyists angered over booze bill amendment that protects churches
- Rep. Joe Carr’s (R-48) booze bill brings ‘pandemonium’ to House floor
- Rep. Joe Carr’s (R-48) Moonshine Bill heads to the House floor next week
- Rutherford County Republicans focus on guns and booze as recession priorities
- More delays for Rep. Joe Carr’s (R-48) moonshine bill
- Rep. Joe Carr (R-48) introduces bill to legalize moonshine stills, embarrasses himself on House floor
This was a really exciting thing to see. The Repubs tried very hard, and even attempted to be a bit sneaky, to kill this amendment, but were unsuccesfull. What I don’t understand is that their whole argument for passing SJR127 was to allow the people to decide on a new amendment, but when it comes to liquor laws and moonshing in our communities, they don’t want the voters to have a voice. They argue that the people should be the ones to make the decisions, by way of refferendum, on bills that have republican sponsors, but when a Democrat attempts to put the decision into the hands of the voters, they unite and challenge them on it. It is quite obvious (to me at least) that the only thing they care about is their own agendas, not letting the people really have the decion making power… That’s just an act.