Wine association opposes proposed Illinois out-of-state wine bill
The Specialty Wine Retailers Association said Tuesday it believes a lawsuit against the State of Illinois and the Illinois Liquor Control Commission is both inevitable and proper if the state passes legislation prohibiting Illinois consumers from purchasing wine from out-of-state wine retailers.
Legislation moving through the Illinois Assembly (HB 429) would, according to SWRA, unconstitutionally allow in-state wine merchants to ship wine to Illinois residents while excluding out-of-state wine merchants from doing the same.
Illinois has allowed consumers to purchase wine from out-of-state wine merchants since 1992.
The Sacramento-based not-for-profit wine group said the proposed legislation would violate the spirit and intent of the 2005 Granholm v. Heald Supreme Court decision that ruled laws on wine shipping must treat in-state and out-of-state shippers equally. SWRA believes that, under Granholm v. Heald, retailers are entitled to the protection of the dormant Commerce Clause. The Granholm case stated as a principle that regulatory schemes that provide for differential treatment of in-state and out-of state competitors discriminate against interstate commerce in violation of the Commerce Clause.
'There is no legal, state or consumer interest that is protected by stripping consumers of their long-held right to purchase wine from out-of-state retailers,' said SWRA Executive Director Tom Wark. 'Lessoning consumer choice and inviting an inevitable lawsuit seems a poor tradeoff for the chance to pass protectionist legislation on behalf of the state's alcohol distribution industry. Consumers across the state have been telling their legislators this for the better part of a month.'
The SWRA believes that the pending legislation could be easily amended by including language that allows out-of-state wine merchants to apply for the proposed wine-shipping permit, and by assuring that retailer permit holders are required to remit all appropriate taxes and submit themselves to Illinois legal jurisdiction. SWRA has said on a number of occasions it is more than happy to agree to these conditions.
The Specialty Wine Retailers Association is a national collection of wine merchants, auction houses, wine e-tailers, catalogers and wine clubs.
Wine association opposes proposed Illinois out-of-state wine bill
