Oklahomans to vote on wine sale referendum, others--http://www.cnwinenews.com

Oklahoma voters get another crack this year at giving a lift to the growing Oklahoma wine industry.

State Question 743 will allow winemakers from Oklahoma and other states - with some significant restrictions - to sell their products directly to liquor stores and restaurants.

Currently, wineries are limited to sales at fairs and festivals, unless they go through a liquor wholesaler.

The winery proposal is one of four state questions referred to the Nov. 4 general election ballot by the Oklahoma Legislature.

One of the referendums gives Oklahomans the constitutional right to hunt, fish and trap, just in case someone wants to take those rights away someday.

In 2000, Oklahomans voted 3-1 to permit state winemakers to sell directly to liquor stores and restaurants. After that vote, the number of wineries in the state climbed from a handful to more than 40.

But the law was challenged by liquor wholesalers and invalidated in 2006 by federal judge, who said it was discriminatory because it did not give out-of-state wineries the same distribution rights as Oklahoma vintners.

During the past legislative sessions, winemakers and liquor wholesalers, who are interested in protecting their market, reached a compromise on a plan to allow the resumption of wine sales to liquor stores and restaurants, but there are a couple of major catches.

First, wineries cannot qualify if they produce more than 10,000 gallons of wine a year. That limits expansion of local wineries and could shut out some wines from other states.

Second, wineries cannot ship their products and must use their own vehicles or leased vehicles to transport the wine to liquor stores and restaurants. The price charged by the wineries must be the same for all customers, regardless of transportation costs.

Also, the referendum declares that if any part of the state question is found to be unconstitutional, then the entire measure falls.

Andrew Snyder, president of the Oklahoma Grape Growers and Winemakers Association, said only two of the state's 52 wineries produce 10,000 gallons of wine.

While some winemakers would like to be able to sell their products on the Internet and ship directly to customers, Snyder said S.Q. 743 will benefit 98 percent of winemakers in the state.

"It is a foot in the door, and it will help our small winemakers," he said.

Tracy Genesen, an attorney in San Francisco for Family Winemakers of California, said restrictions placed in the proposed Oklahoma law at the insistence of wholesalers are "irrational."

Genesen said the requirement that wineries must ship their products in their company-owned or leased vehicles is "clearly designed to keep out wines from other states."

"It's the consumers that suffer when the wholesale liquor industry puts these laws in place to prevent access to wines," she said.

State Question 742 adds a new section to the Oklahoma Constitution declaring that all Oklahomans have right to "hunt, trap and fish" subject to reasonable regulation.

It makes hunting, fishing and trapping the preferred means to manage certain wildlife.

Is a constitutional provision needed in a state where hunting and fishing are considered rights of passage?

"I think, given the environment and climate in Oklahoma today, probably not," concedes Senate Co-President Pro Tem Glen Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, principal sponsor.

"But we have seen in other areas of the country, that issues come up about whether fish feel pain when they are caught and issues about hunting restrictions. I just wanted to end the argument before it got started in Oklahoma."

Also on the ballot:

State Question 735, giving a household personal property tax exemption to veterans and their spouses if the veteran is 100 percent disabled because of an injury that occurred during military action or through a disease contracted while in active service. The measure takes effect Jan. 1, 2009.

State Question 741, requiring a person or business to file an application with the county assessor to get an exemption from property taxes, which now is not always required.

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