The state legislature is currently in their quadrennial organizational session. I haven’t been able to find a listing of committee members yet, but we do have the chairmen of the committees of interest to Free the Hops legislation. Having a friendly committee chair is always beneficial.
In the Senate, our bills go to the Senate Committee on Tourism and Marketing, which is being chaired by freshman Senator Clay Scofield. Several Free the Hops supporters spoke to Senator Scofield during his campaign in north Alabama, including myself. By all accounts, he was responsive and supportive of our issues. It will take some time (and votes) before we can consider him a solid supporter, but he is as FTH-friendly as we can expect any newly-elected member to be.
In the House of Representatives, the House Committee on Economic Development and Tourism is being chaired by Representative Barry Mask. Representative Mask has been a solid supporter of our legislation over the years. He also completed our 2010 FTH Candidate Survey and indicated he supported the Brewery Modernization Act, raising the permissible container size limit on bottled and canned beer, and legalizing homebrewing.
