Omnivore - Beer Jobs Bill hangs in balance, fingers point at Lt. Gov.

If the bill doesn’t make it out of the Senate by Mar. 13, it’s dead until next year’s session.

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  • Joeff Davis/CL File
  • BEER BUST: Sources say Lt. Gov. Casey Cagles is exerting influence at the Gold Dome to ensure the bill dies in committee.



Fresh off <a href=”http://clatl.com/omnivore/archives/2015/02/20/brewers-and-distributors-present-beer-jobs-bill-arguments-at-senate-hearing” ” target=”blank”>last week’s Senate hearing, and a now-delayed vote that was supposed to happen today, supporters of the <a href=”http://clatl.com/omnivore/archives/2015/01/29/beer-jobs-bill-drops-at-gold-dome” ” target=”blank”>Beer Jobs Bill (Senate Bill 63) are wondering if a vote will happen at all.

Late Tuesday, sources at the Capitol told Creative Loafing that <a href=”http://ltgov.georgia.gov/contact-lt-governor” target=”_blank” ” target=”blank”>Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle is exerting influence at the Gold Dome, hoping to ensure the bill dies in committee.

“He’s the one telling Regulated Industries Chairman and State Sen. Rick Jeffares to sit on the bill,” one said under condition of anonymity. “He’s running for Governor in 2018. The distributors donated a lot of money to Deal, and Cagle wants that money. This is about campaign contributions when he runs. Could Jeffares break rank and call for a vote? Yes, but he won’t. Cagle is in charge of Jeffares’ future as a politician. Cagle has a good shot at being the next Governor — no one wants to piss him off.”

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This morning, conservative blogger Erick Erickson <a href=”http://www.erickontheradio.com/2015/02/the-beer-fight-georgias-casey-cagle-sides-with-crony-capitalists/” target=”_blank” ” target=”blank”>published a searing indictment of Cagle and his ties to “crony capitalists,” noting that “multiple Republican Senators in Georgia’s General Assembly tell me that Cagle himself is personally obstructing the legislation and placing pressure on the Regulated Industries Committee to stall a vote on the bill.”

Erickson also pointed to Cagle’s 2014 campaign contributions, which include substantial funding from a number of alcohol industry members (more than $130,000 total just from this industry) who are against the bill:

Georgia Beer Wholesalers Association ($12,600)
Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of Georgia ($12,600)
Donald M. Leebern Jr. of Georgia Crown Distributing Company ($12,600)
Anheuser-Busch ($11,000)
Savannah Distributing Co. ($10,000)
Eagle Rock Distributing Co. ($8,800)
William D. Young Jr. of General Wholesale Beer Company ($7,200)
Howard E. Young of General Wholesale Beer Company ($7,200)
Stephen Young of General Wholesale Beer Company ($7,200)
Stacey Leebern of Georgia Crown Distributing Company ($6,300)
Donal M. Leebern of Georgia Crown Distributing Company ($6,300)
Atlanta Beverage Co. ($5,000)
MillerCoors ($3,500)
Henry Monsees of Savannah Distributing Co. ($1,429.57)

In a follow-up post, <a href=”http://www.erickontheradio.com/2015/02/why-passing-the-beer-jobs-bill-in-georgia-is-so-hard/” target=”_blank” ” target=”blank”>Erickson implored readers to call Cagle and several members of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee. He also noted that “the Lt. Governor put Senators Jeff Mullis and Butch Miller on the Regulated Industries Committee. Those two gentlemen, Senator David Shafer, and Casey Cagle got vastly more money from alcohol wholesalers than anyone else,” and that “Mullis is a friend of Cagle’s and has been a loyal lieutenant of the Lt. Governor’s for some time...he put friends on the Regulated Industries Committee too, all of whom have gotten contributions from beer wholesalers to stack the deck against S.B. 63.”

As <a href=”http://trendsmap.com/local/us/atlanta” target=”_blank” ” target=”blank”>@CaseyCagle earned the top spot on Atlanta Twitter trending topics for a couple hours earlier today, Georgia beer lovers debated Cagle’s power and the possibility of a bill compromise <a href=”http://www.reddit.com/r/atlbeer/comments/2x26f2/bad_news_from_the_capitol/” target=”_blank” ” target=”blank”>on Reddit. Others focused, again, on <a href=”http://www.reddit.com/r/atlbeer/comments/2x4hz2/casey_cagle_campaign_donations_from_the_beer/” target=”_blank” ” target=”blank”>his myriad wholesaler contributions. On a local beer email listserv, numerous Georgians reported calling Cagle’s office to express their displeasure with his position.

“Just called Cagle,” one wrote. “I asked if he was blocking the bill and the woman who answered said he wasn’t. She said she knew it was being reported that way but it is erroneous. I asked if he supports the bill and was told he hasn’t issued a position yet. I told the woman that I have to assume he will use his power to block it from a vote since he’s received $130k from beer distributors. Using his power to block it is undemocratic and the people have a right to vote on the issue.”

Elsewhere, consumers and breweries have been lighting up Twitter with the <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/sb63?f=realtime&src=hash” target=”_blank” ” target=”blank”>#SB63 and <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/letthemvote?f=realtime&src=hash” target=”_blank” ” target=”blank”>#LetThemVote hashtags. Reformation Brewery’s Spencer Nix <a href=”http://www.spencernix.com/blog/2015/2/25/politics-and-piety” target=”_blank” ” target=”blank”>blogged about the situation. Retailers like The Porter <a href=”https://twitter.com/PorterBeerBar/status/570620594842148864” target=”_blank” ” target=”blank”>asked their customers to call Cagle. Lawyer Taylor Harper <a href=”http://georgiacraftbeerlawyer.com/2015/02/25/to-lt-gov-cagle-prove-to-me-you-that-are-not-a-hypocrite/” target=”_blank” ” target=”blank”>wrote an open letter to Cagle. And many, like <a href=”https://twitter.com/BeerWildHeaven/status/570622751687335936” target=”_blank” ” target=”blank”>Wild Heaven, argued that if Cagle’s people are saying he’s not against the bill, perhaps it’s time he come out in public support of it. Or at least publicly address the allegations.

The Regulated Industries Committee will next meet on Wed., Mar. 4. If the bill doesn’t make it out of the Senate by Crossover Day Fri., Mar. 13, it’s dead until next year’s session.