Omnivore - Beer Job Bill passes Senate floor vote

• Joeff Davis/CL File
• SB 63 passed through the Senate (51 yeas, 5 nays), now it's off to the House of Representatives

Update: On Monday morning, the new version of SB 63, including amendments, was posted on the Georgia General Assembly website.

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The Beer Jobs Bill's Senate run ended on a positive note Friday morning, when it passed through Senate (51 yeas, 5 nays) with amendments. Narrowly making today's Crossover Day cutoff, SB 63 is now off to the Georgia House of Representatives to start the whole process again.

Following a quick reading of the current bill language at around 11:20 a.m., a number of amendments were proposed, though only two made it through. One of them changed the language slightly so that consumers on a tour can sample beer while touring, not only after. And the other redefined "tour" as access to the production area (aka walking around, looking at equipment) or a video (aka a stream in the taproom? Hard to say exactly).

Legislators talk fast, and Creative Loafing will update this story when the amendments are live on the Georgia General Assembly website.

"We're getting started on a long day with a good topic," Hill said following the amendments. "Georgia's craft breweries are lagging behind what they could be. With this bill, you get a chance to positively impacts these small businesses. This bill truly helps all three tiers of the system."

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It's been a hectic few weeks for the Beer Jobs Bill. In late February, after word came that Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle was blocking the legislation behind the scenes, the outpouring of consumer support was so intense that the bill's sponsor asked Georgia beer lovers to "take it easy on social media and let the negotiation process happen." Following that negotiation, the bill made it through Regulated Industries, albeit with substantial revisions. On Wednesday, the Senate Rules Committee put the bill on the Senate floor calendar, which led to this morning's vote.

Meanwhile, passionate debate ensued on Reddit as to whether or not the bill as written was even worth passing, and many complained that the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild's silence was damning. GCBG executive director Nancy Palmer explains that this morning's amendments were both the answer to the naysayers and the reason the Guild's been silent.

"I know we've been quiet, but that's because we've had to be," Palmer tells Creative Loafing. "The focus for us is the House."

Read all of Creative Loafing's Beer Jobs Bill coverage.