BILL NUMBER: SCR 89	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Wright

                        MAY 10, 2012

   Relative to California Beer Distributor Month.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 89, as introduced, Wright. California Beer Distributor Month.
   This measure would proclaim the month of May 2012 as California
Beer Distributor Month.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, With the passage of the 21st Amendment to the United
States Constitution, California's beer distributors have been
licensed and regulated under the state-based, three-tier system that
provides traceability, transparency, and accountability in alcohol
taxation and regulation in the United States. Our system of
distribution is unmatched by any other country in the world for
bringing consumers unsurpassed choice and value. It has produced an
open and orderly market that maximizes brand and price competition,
encourages independent wholesale distribution that removes barriers
to new malt beverage entry, promotes efficient and responsible
service to all licensed retailers, and protects consumers from
counterfeit or adulterated products that are commonly found outside
the United States; and
   WHEREAS, California's beer distributors can buy from many brewers
and importers for sale and distribution to supply a diverse portfolio
of local, regional, national, and international sourced beers to all
licensed retailers, and distributors provide the infrastructure to
meet the retailer's need for an efficient point of contact for
delivery of a vast multiplicity of brands and meet the brewer's
infrastructure need for widespread distribution, thus giving
consumers over 13,000 brand choices from megabrands to craft-brewed
micros and imports all at competitive prices; and
   WHEREAS, California's beer distributors are among the state's
leading employers. Located in the state's 58 counties, beer
distributors contribute $931, 668,114 annually to California's
economy in direct wages and health care benefits to their 11,743
employees; and
   WHEREAS, California's beer distributors are primarily family
businesses spanning three generations with a long-term commitment to
expanding the economic and civic vibrancy of their communities and to
growing an ever stronger family business for the benefit of their
employees and future generations; and
   WHEREAS, California's beer distributors are investing millions of
dollars in alternative energy technologies to reduce their carbon
footprint in their warehouses, on our roads, and in the marketplace
in order to improve our environment. Beer distributors' warehouses
are powered by solar energy systems; hybrid and flex fuel vehicles
are an integral part of their fleet mix; and energy efficient
refrigeration keeps the beer chilled. Lighting retrograde programs in
warehouses use motion activation to turn the lights on when it is
beer loading time, as well as skylights and fluorescent lights to cut
electrical consumption; and
   WHEREAS, California beer distributors are also promoting
sustainable solutions through the recycling of plastic and cardboard
packaging waste and sourcing vendors to purchase the baled used
shrink wrap and cardboard. These conservation practices have reduced
the use of energy and raw materials and have minimized the amounts of
waste going to California's landfills; and
   WHEREAS, California benefits from having the beer distributor as a
single point of contact to ensure that taxes and the California
Redemption Value (CRV) on beverage containers are collected and paid.
California beer distributors are the link to beverages brought in
from out of state which need to be tracked back to the point of
manufacture for state taxing purposes. Beer distributors create a
paper trail for tracing sales and ensuring the full collection of all
sales, excise taxes, and CRV; and
   WHEREAS, Most importantly, because of California beer
distributors, the public is assured of product safety. The motivation
to counterfeit exists in the United States but is not present here
because of the beer distributors' ability to track the product from
one point, one source, and if beer should ever be adulterated, the
ability to rapidly account for and retrieve the product from retail
shelves; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature of the State of California
hereby proclaims May 2012 as California Beer Distributor Month; and
be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.