According to an article in yesterday's Baltimore Sun, this may be the last year that Marylanders are denied the freedom of choice enjoyed in 37 states and the District of Columbia. Apparently a bill that would legalize the shipping of wine directly to Maryland residents – after some 30 odd years of failure – has a good shot at passage in the 2011 legislative session.
The Sun quotes the two key committee chairs, widely blamed for blocking the legislation last year despite the fact that it was co-sponsored by 106 of the 188 state legislators, making very encouraging statements about the proposal's prospects in the upcoming session that begins in January.
"Sen. Joan Carter Conway, who chairs the Senate committee that oversees the delicate issue, said there will 'probably' be a bill passed to let Marylanders receive shipments of wine," the Sun's Annie Linskey reports. "Her counterpart in the House, Del. Dereck E. Davis, pledged to do 'the best I can' to persuade his committee and his chamber to pass a bill."
The committee chairs are reportedly responding to a chorus of wine-loving consumers who pressured the state's General Assembly to make the change last year, including yours truly, who testified before both the House and Senate committees. (See Mr. Budget Wine Examiner goes to Annapolis and Public Enemies 1 and 2 for Maryland Wine Consumers.) They are also expecting changes to their committee assignments, which could potentially make it harder for them to block the measure. Last spring the House Economic Matters Committee voted 12 to 8 in favor of the legislation, but still fell one vote short of the 13 it apparently needed to bring the bill to the full chamber for a vote. (See Wine shipping in MD dies on the vine again.)
"The fight is not over, but we are greatly cheered on by this turn of events," wrote John Hesse, executive director of the grass-roots advocacy group Marylanders for Better Beer & Wine Laws in an email to supporters this morning.
We're also taking a wait-and-see approach to the news. For one, a report to the legislature from Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot that is supposed to summarize the myriad state laws on the topic isn't expected until next month. And who knows what influence the powerful liquor lobby, namely the Maryland State Licensed Beverage Association, may have had on the report and if it will have sway with legislators.
So it's not quite time for Marylanders to sign up for the Wine of the Month Club. But maybe by this time next year you might be able to consider a holiday Wine Country Gift Basket for wine lovers you know in the Free State.
Cheers!
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Email the DC Budget Wine Examiner at budgetwineguy@gmail.com.
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