Raise a glass, ladies and gentlemen – if you vote for Republicans, your opportunities for boozing it up will greatly improve!
The path to voters’ hearts wends its way through the liver…
Well, that SHOULD be the case, anyway, and will be if GOP legislators read my latest RGJ column, and heed my exhortations.
As always, please enjoy some additional citations, information, digressions, and other thoughts, presented in no particular order, based loosely on the original column.
~~~
Some version of this column has been kicking around in my head for quite awhile, now, inspired by this RGJ article from back in July. I remember driving to work with a friend of mine after reading it (maybe even a couple of days after reading it), and profanely raging about how stupid it all was. It has it all – unapologetic partisanship and unashamed insistence on maintaining the status quo for the protection of a few wealthy interests, all of which stands in the way of Nevada’s economic growth.
Here’s how completely this statutory abomination has set us back. Utah has more wineries than we do. UTAH.
Just embarrassing.
Nevada has some really great product that deserves wider distribution, too, like my brother-in-law’s Battle Born Beer. It’s been an education to watch him and his partners getting that venture off the ground – something that’s hard enough without pointless government regulation to fight on top of it all.
~~~
If you want to do some profane raging of your own, check out the entirety of NRS Chapter 597. There’s an orchard-full of low hanging fruit for Republicans who want to do real work in slashing job- and business-killing red tape.
Nevada is not, and never has been, a libertarian state. Libertine, yes – but that’s not even close to the same thing. If we want to be serious about being a place businesses want to come, and truly growing a diverse and robust economy here for the long term, this needs to change. Tax policy is important, but as a free marketeer I think serious dismantling of labyrinthine regulatory schemes matters more.
~~~
Pat Hickey’s bill to scoop the first shovelfull out of that Augean stable is AB4. It’s very simple, and there’s no reason it shouldn’t pass. I talked to Pat about it briefly a few weeks ago, though, and he told me he’s actually getting a little push back on it. He didn’t say from who, and I didn’t ask. I certainly hope it’s not anyone in my party representing a rural county, though. Nah, it couldn’t be – all those folks ran on conservative principles, which means the free market, not corrupt protectionism.
It’s worth pointing out yet one more example of a guy derided as a “moderate” who is actually turning conservative principles into policy. Conservatism is about a hell of a lot more than slavish devotion to debt-creating tax pledges.
Pat’s also keeping a great blog during the legislative session, which if you aren’t reading, you’re missing out.
~~~
It frustrates me that more Republicans, both locally and nationally, don’t jump more aggressively on this sort of thing. Changing our current protectionist taxicab regulatory scheme to bring Nevada into the Uber era is another no-brainer, and it’s on the legislative radar. Yet I’m not aware of a single bill having been introduced to address that issue.
The GOP badly needs to appeal to new voters, and shaking the “stodgy and uncool” image won’t hurt. Not only are these sorts of changes good policy, but they’re great politics. Based on the current pace of reforms, I’m cautiously optimistic. But I’d like to see these efforts touted more, and not forgotten as the budget battles loom.
~~~
Finally, the headline used on my piece could be misinterpreted – I’m not saying there should be no regulation whatsoever on any aspect of alcohol manufacture or distribution.
But I do harbor a dream of hanging up the law books and becoming a gentleman farmer. For that to work, though, I might need someone to take a look at our child labor laws…
Using gratuitous cuteness as click bait? I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.
Thanks for the plug, Orrin. You are spot on with your analysis.
If your readers want more background on how the booze business in Nevada got to this point, have them do a little reading about prohibition, particularly the end of it, and who were the biggest beneficiaries of it (*cough* distributors, who took over the job of booze running from the mob).
They were very successful in lobbying for legislation that kept them in the business – by requiring everyone who brews, distills, or ferments to use distributors to get their products in consumers’ hands.
There’s a saying in the beer business in Nevada: The distributor holds the keys to the kingdom. And they profit handsomely.
But I don’t want to sound like I’m bashing on distributors – I LOVE our distributor, Barone Distribution. They have worked their butts off and worked WITH us, when other distributors would not. They actually SELL our beer, maintain existing accounts, clean tap lines, keep our inventory, deliver and pickup, etc. – all of the things I don’t want to do, nor have the money, time, knowledge or expertise to do.
The current law really hurts the little guy, more than the big guy. Big beer brands can afford to pay the distributor markup, because their volume is huge. For little guys, that markup literally prevents them from making a profit in some cases, and prevents consumers from enjoying their products.
I think the laws can be changed, without cutting the distributors out. Increase the maximum volume that breweries, distilleries and wineries can self-distribute. Distributors won’t lose out, because the quantities would still be too small financially to be worth their while.
That would allow small breweries to grow to become medium-sized breweries then large breweries, where they would then become lucrative customers of distributors.
Jobs would be created, tax revenues would increase, and in the case of wine, a new, and potentially huge, industry would be created in Nevada.
I suspect that some of the push-back Pat is getting is from interests who are perfectly fine with the status quo…