House bill 345 amended to include 'growler bill'

HB 345 Relating to Alcoholic Beverage Regulation, was put on the schedule for the Finance and Tax Council Wednesday at 2pm and is moving in the Florida House.  The sponsor, Representative Kreegel from Punta Gorda, has agreed to add our bottle size “Growler” language to the bill as an amendment.  The amendment is being sponsored by Representative Tobia from Melbourne, Fl.

HB 345 was debated by the Finance and Tax Council Wednesday, 17MAR2010.  The original bill as filed deals with small Distillers in Florida and their ability to 'sample' products.  As stated above, an amendment was added to the bill that, if passed, would remove the container size restrictions as related to malt beverages so as to allow for the sale of 'growlers'. 

The 'gowler' amendment was presented by Representative Kreegel and Josh Aubuchon, and after questions and debate by the council, the amendment passed with an 8 to 6 vote.  HOWEVER, HB 345 in it's entirety was NOT passed, so this piece of legislation has died in committee for this years session.

Copy and paste in your browser, or click on the following link to the video archive of the Finance & Tax Council meeting:

http://streams.leg.state.fl.us/archive/MBR/H_2460_2010_03_17_7741.asx