There’s growing anger at the state of Tenessee from a fair number of people we follow on a daily basis over proposed legislation that will ban shipments of wine to homes in the state:
Tennessee legislation would ban any shipments of wine to TN consumers from fulfillment houses. And if they're doing it with wine, obviously they'll do it to actually drinkable booze like bourbon next. https://t.co/fn7hMh8JND
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) March 2, 2021
From Avalara, a business provider of tax service to companies:
A bill making its way through the Tennessee Legislature would make it illegal for fulfillment houses in the United States to ship wine to Tennessee consumers on behalf of licensed wineries. If House Bill 0742 or its companion Senate Bill is 0705 enacted, wine drinkers in the Volunteer State could soon be unable to purchase wine from their favorite wineries.
This bill caught wineries and consumers by surprise. If enacted, it could take business away from licensed fulfillment houses that do exactly what they’re authorized to do: Store wine on behalf of licensed wineries and ship it on their behalf via common carrier directly to consumers in Tennessee and other states. At this point, the motivation behind the bill is unclear.
Shouldn’t we be “FIXING prohibition-era laws” and not adding to them?
? This is ridiculous – TN is considering banning direct to consumer sales of wine. In the middle of a pandemic where everyone wants everything delivered and other states are FIXING prohibition-era laws https://t.co/QoxcKSiRgS
— Shoshana Weissmann, Sloth Committee Chair ? (@senatorshoshana) March 4, 2021
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More on Tennessee’s motivation:
And – a friend who is working on this issue tells me it's a response to neighboring KY's direct-to-consumer regime that TN has had problems with. But this is not the way
— Shoshana Weissmann, Sloth Committee Chair ? (@senatorshoshana) March 4, 2021
Tennessee has proposed a bill to ban direct-to-consumer wine sales. ?They were probably inspired by Kentucky's direct to consumer regulation. Other states should *not* be following their lead. https://t.co/UR7RRZa7yd
— Coti Howell (@CotiHowell) March 9, 2021
Just read this article ➡️ https://t.co/deNTr9REm4 about Tennessee's proposed bill to ban direct to consumer sales of wine, this is beyond frustrating! Other states shouldn't copy Kentucky as direct-to-consumer wine sales could be banned!
— MYREGISTRYWEDDING (@MyRegistryWed) March 9, 2021
Of note, the legislation does have “the support of local wholesalers and retailers”:
Not to be That Guy Who Freelance Edits Everyone but it takes too long to get to: "It has the support of local wholesalers and retailers, who were disappointed in the loss at the Supreme Court in the Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers v. Thomas case." https://t.co/3aNOjUW7Rx
— Olivier Knox (@OKnox) March 4, 2021
Emily Zanotti, who may be moving to Tennesse after The Daily Signal announced it was moving to the state from California, is not a fan:
News from my maybe-future state of residence: In the middle of a pandemic, when everyone wants everything shipped to home, TN might be banning direct-to-consumer wine sales: https://t.co/ml734Hq6y7
— Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) March 10, 2021
I mean, guys. GUYS.
— Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) March 10, 2021
The article says it's not clear why TN is considering this but a friend with distillery clients says it's because people in TN are angry about KY's overly-anarchical DTC laws.
— Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) March 10, 2021
Not gonna be great if the response to the KY system is other states banning DTC. Don’t do this TN! I want to love youuu but I need winnneeeee. And ciderrrrr.
— Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) March 10, 2021
We’ll keep you posted.
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