Bill to allow wine in grocery stores fails

  The sponsor of a bill to allow sales of wine in grocery stores withdrew the measure Wednesday, a move that delays action this year but keeps open the possibility of raising the issue again next spring.

Rep. David Shepard, D-Dickson, asked a House subcommittee to put off consideration of his measure, which would have lifted a restriction that allows only liquor stores to sell wine, because he did not have the votes to pass it this year.

Under House rules, the move means Shepard can reintroduce the measure next year. Had the subcommittee voted the bill down, it could not have been brought up again in committee until the next General Assembly convenes in 2011.

“I did not feel like I had the votes to pass it this year,” Shepard said. “It’s ridiculous to bring a bill up and then it’s defeated because then it is dead.”

The move was made in consultation with the bill’s sponsor in the Senate, Murfreesboro Republican Bill Ketron, and its chief supporter, the Tennessee Grocers & Convenience Store Association, Shepard said.

The decision comes despite an intense letter-writing and lobbying campaign led by the grocers association urging support for sales of wine in grocery stores. It also comes despite polls that have shown a majority of consumers as in-store wine sales.

Supporters of the bill said that popular support will keep the issue from being forced permanently from the legislature’s agenda.

“I think we’re going to have to step back and look at the entire code on liquor law in Tennessee,” said Rep. Glen Casada, R-College Grove. “This is the second most emailed issue, for me, behind the income tax.”

Many lawmakers, however, have opposed changes to Tennessee’s three-tiered system for alcohol distribution, which requires that all beer, wine and liquor pass through a wholesaler before hitting store shelves.

Trade associations supporting wholesalers and liquor stores have contributed heavily to legislative campaigns, giving more than $200,000 last year alone.

Churches and liquor store owners, which under state law must reside in the state and can own no more than one outlet, have also opposed changes to the law.

“I’ve talked to a lot of people personally in my own district, and a lot of people are for it and a lot of people are against it,” Shepard said. “We need to take it a little bit out of politics.”