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Dear Washington Family Winery,
We have decided to form a new organization called
Family Wineries of Washington State (FWWS) to represent the
interests of small, family-owned wineries like yours and to help
the Liquor Board implement through the legislature the changes
it discussed at the tied house meeting. Full voting membership
will be open to all Washington State wineries that qualify for
the federal small producer’s tax credit. Other wine industry
members will be welcomed as non-voting associate members. We
urge you to join our new organization.
Family Wineries of Washington State will be
different from other wine lobbying organizations in several
important respects. First, we will be an all volunteer
organization with no paid staff. We will rely on members and
friends to do the work of FWWS.
Dues for the new organization will be completely
voluntary. We ask that you contribute whatever you can afford
from $10 to $500. The money will be used solely for office
supplies and to buy insurance for Board members.
We won’t try to represent everyone or be all things
for all wineries. In most instances, we intend to support the
positions of the Washington Wine Institute. We will take other
positions only when the Wine Institute is unable to express the
needs of small family wineries. On most other issues we will
work with the Washington Wine Institute, much as Family
Winemakers of California works with the California Wine
Institute on topics of mutual agreement.
We will not be afraid to discuss the health benefits
of moderate consumption of Washington wine. We will advocate
for the open discussion and promotion of the many health
benefits of moderate consumption of our wines.
We will advocate for the free market as the only
truly level playing field for the sale of Washington wine. We
will seek the elimination of barriers to trade and other
restrictions that favor the few at the expense of the many.
Only wineries that are willing to compete fairly based on the
merits of their products should join our group.
We will support the refocusing of the WSLCB away
from economic regulation and toward its core role of promoting
public health and safety and the efficient collection of taxes.
We will be a transparent organization controlled by
its members. We will have as many meetings as the members want
and we will always tell you what we are doing on your behalf.
To start the communication right now, we would like
to tell you about a simple proposal we want to run in the
legislature this session. We will seek an amendment to the tax
collection portion of the liquor statute to reduce the number of
times small wineries have to pay their excise taxes from monthly
to annually (as TTB allows). This simple change will reduce
your state excise tax paper work burden by 11 times.
Regarding the Liquor Board’s proposal, we will seek
to have the following language inserted in the Liquor Board’s
operating statute. It would replace the existing 1934-era
preamble to the statute and show the legislature and governor’s
support for the Liquor Board’s reform effort. We will also work
with the Board during the coming year to help draft further
legislation and regulations implementing the changes.
The intent of this title is to protect the welfare, health and
safety of the people of the state from the effects of misuse of
alcoholic beverages, to secure to the people of the state the
economic benefits of lawful competition in the sale of alcoholic
beverages, and to foster trade and economic development in the
licensed beverage industry. Economic activity and operations
ancillary to the conduct of a business licensed under this title
that are not contrary to the general antitrust laws or to the
general commercial law of sales, if not expressly forbidden by
this title, are permissible under this title. Sale of liquor to
minors, sale of liquor to visibly intoxicated persons, and sale
of liquor without a license under this title are violations of
this title, subject to enforcement and penalties under Chapter
66.44 of this title.
We have the opportunity to fundamentally change for
the better the way wine is sold in Washington State. We urge
you to join Family Wineries of Washington State and help with
our efforts. To join, simply respond to this e-mail and let us
know how much you are willing to contribute in time and
dollars. Thank you.
Signed,
Founding Members
Family Wineries of Washington State
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