ATLANTA – In 2017, the General Assembly passed legislation allowing craft breweries in Georgia for the first time to sell their product directly to consumers in limited quantities.
While the bill has helped spark a huge growth spurt in the industry, craft brewers say they are still hampered by a system that favors beer wholesalers.
“Senate Bill 85 was a great step forward,” said Joseph Cortes, executive director of the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild. “[But] it left a lot of restrictions in place for our small brewers. … They’re still limited in what they can do within their four walls.”
Cortes’ group is gearing up to push for passage next year of legislation that was introduced in the state Senate this year but failed to reach the Senate floor for a vote.
Senate Bill 163, which remains alive for consideration in 2024, would repeal a provision in the 2017 law that limits craft brewers to selling no more than 288 ounces of beer per day – equivalent to one case – for off-premises consumption.
“That’s an artificially low barrier,” Cortes said. “Every other surrounding state except South Carolina has no limit or a larger limit.”
Instead, the bill would let craft brewers sell up to 3,000 cases of beer per year directly to retailers within a 100-mile radius of the brewery without going through a wholesale distributor.
While the bill hit a dead end in the Senate Regulated Industries Committee this year, there’s support for it among the chamber’s Republican majority, said Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, the measure’s chief sponsor.
“We are free-enterprise capitalist people,” he said. “That’s what this is.”
But the bill is sure to draw opposition from the wholesalers lobby, which helped sink it this year.
Martin Smith, executive director of the Georgia Beer Wholesalers Association, pointed to the rapid growth of the craft beer industry in the Peach State during the last decade as evidence craft brewers are doing fine under the current law.
From just 10 breweries statewide as recently as 2011, the number of breweries in Georgia has mushroomed to more than 150, including such high-profile brands as Sweetwater and Creature Comforts, Smith said.
“Georgia is already one of the nation’s top places to brew beer,” he said.
But Cortes said the existing law unfairly ties craft breweries to wholesalers in a way that drives up prices.
“The current system dictates that if a brewery wants to get a product to market, they have to enter an agreement with a wholesaler,” he said. “It’s nearly impossible to terminate that agreement or switch to another distributor.”
Cortes cited limits on craft breweries’ ability to self-distribute as a factor in forcing four or five breweries to go out of business.
“Openings are still outpacing closings,” he said. “But we’ve seen an alarming rate of closings in the last year. … They all cite issues with being able to get their products out to consumers in their communities.”
Hufstetler said the state of North Carolina allows breweries to self-distribute with no limits, and wholesalers have not suffered any adverse impacts.
“I haven’t seen any distributors go out of business because of it,” he said.
But Smith said giving craft breweries free rein would disrupt the “three-tier” system of beer producers, distributors, and retailers that has existed since the end of Prohibition.
“What the brewers are asking for would take away from a structure that’s there for healthy growth,” he said.
Hufstetler’s bill also would let craft brewers and brewpubs donate beer to charitable events, a right that only wholesalers enjoy under current law.
Cortes said he’s optimistic the bill will make it through the General Assembly next year, despite the wholesalers’ opposition.
ATLANTA – A Texas man has pleaded guilty to posting a message online threatening several Georgia public officials following the 2020 election.
Chad Christopher Stark, 55, of Leander, Texas, faces up to two years in prison on one count of sending a threat using a telecommunications device.
According to court records, around Jan. 5, 2021, the day before the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Stark posted a message to Craigslist entitled “Georgia Patriots it’s time to kill [Official A] the Chinese agent – $10,000.”
The message included the following: “It’s time to invoke our Second Amendment right it’s time to put a bullet in the treasonous Chinese [Official A]. Then we will work our way down to [Official B] the local and federal corrupt judges.
“It’s our duty as American Patriots to put an end to the lives of these traitors and take back our country by force. … If we want our country back we have to exterminate these people.”
The message went on to threaten a woman identified in the court records as “Official C.”
The threats were aimed at both Georgia elected officials and elections workers, Ryan Buchanan, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said Thursday.
“All across this country our fellow citizens and neighbors, including many retirees, choose to serve as elections officials, poll workers, and in other capacities to help ensure free and fair elections in the United States,” Buchanan said. “They serve out of a patriotic duty and appreciation for our nation and deserve to do so without fear of retaliation or threats of violence.”
“Today’s guilty plea plainly shows that anyone who threatens election officials online will be investigated by the FBI and held accountable for their words,” added Luis Quesada, assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “We must take calls for violence seriously, whatever their form, especially when they have the potential to result in physical harm and undermine the integrity of U.S. elections.”
The investigation of Stark arose from the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force, announced by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in June 2021 and launched by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.
A sentencing date for Stark has not yet been set. A federal judge will determine the sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Gov. Brian Kemp and officials from Hyundai Motor Group broke ground on the Metaplant last October.
ATLANTA – Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution (LGES) are investing another $2 billion in the planned “Metaplant” west of Savannah, already the largest economic development project in Georgia history.
The two companies announced an expansion of the original $5.5 billion electric vehicles and battery cell manufacturing joint venture Thursday, bringing the total investment to nearly $7.6 billion and adding 400 jobs on top of the 8,100 originally planned for the next eight years.
The massive project will go a long way toward making Georgia the e-mobility capital of the U.S., Gov. Brian Kemp said Thursday.
“These types of major investments ultimately go to hardworking Georgians in the form of paychecks, improved schools and infrastructure, and more,” Kemp said.
“This incremental investment in Bryan County reflects our continued commitment to create a more sustainable future powered by American workers,” added José Muñoz, president and CEO of Hyundai and Genesis Motor North America.
When fully built out, the Metaplant will turn out 300,000 EVs per year. Hyundai Mobis will assemble battery packs using cells from the plant, then supply them to Hyundai Motor Group’s U.S. manufacturing facilities for the production of Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis EV models.
The state Department of Economic Development’s Global Commerce team worked on the project in partnership with the Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Authority, the Georgia Ports Authority, Georgia Power and the Technical College System of Georgia’s Quick Start program.
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp pushed back Thursday against a call by ultra-conservative Republicans for a special legislative session to punish Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for seeking to indict former President Donald Trump.
Kemp he disagrees with Democrat Willis’ strategy politically but doesn’t see that she’s done anything illegal.
“We are now seeing what happens when prosecutors move forward with a highly charged indictment during an election,” the governor told reporters during a news conference at the Georgia Capitol. “[But] a special session of the General Assembly to end-around this law is not feasible and may ultimately prove unconstitutional.”
Kemp’s comments were aimed at calls for a special legislative session targeting Willis from freshman state Sen. Colton Moore, R-Trenton, and other members of the Georgia Freedom Caucus. The group plans to hold a news conference next week to air their grievances against Willis.
Another freshman Georgia senator, Republican Shawn Still of Norcross, is among 18 defendants a Fulton County grand jury indicted in mid-August along with Trump on racketeering charges in connection with alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
Trump has called the indictment a politically motivated effort to stop his 2024 presidential bid. The former president waived arraignment Thursday and entered a plea of not guilty.
Kemp compared the current call for a special session to similar efforts by some legislative Republicans in the aftermath of the 2020 election. He refused to do so at that time based on the same argument that he lacked the legal authority.
“As long as I am governor, we’re going to follow the law and the Constitution,” Kemp said.
Kemp called efforts to punish Willis by impeachment or some other means a political loser for Republicans.
“We’re going to focus on the issues that affect all Georgians,” he said. “That’s what wins elections.”
ATLANTA – Utility and highway crews fanned out across South Georgia Thursday restoring power and clearing roads in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia, which tore across the region for hours on Wednesday.
“We are fortunate the storm was narrow and fast-moving,” Gov. Brian Kemp told reporters Thursday during a news conference at the Georgia Capitol. “But if you were in the path, it was devastating.”
One fatality was reported during the storm when a tree fell on a vehicle in Lowndes County, one of the areas hardest hit by Idalia, while minor injuries were reported across the region.
At the height of the storm Wednesday afternoon, 277,000 electric customers had lost power, said James Stallings, director of the state Emergency Management/Homeland Security Agency. By Thursday morning, that number had been reduced to 107,000, he said.
The storm also damaged 32 cellphone towers, Stallings said. Most had been restored by Thursday morning, he said.
“There’s nowhere that we don’t have overlapping service,” he said.
Stallings said the Georgia Ports Authority, which closed both the ports of Savannah and Brunswick during the storm, was expected to reopen Savannah by late Thursday morning and the Port of Brunswick by mid-afternoon.
Two major bridges in Coastal Georgia that were closed to traffic on Wednesday, the Talmadge Bridge in Savannah and the Sidney Lanier Bridge in Brunswick, had been reopened by Thursday morning.
Nine state highways remained closed on Thursday, as crews from the Georgia Department of Transportation worked to clear storm debris.
While the Biden administration has approved federal disaster declarations for Florida and South Carolina, Stallings said his agency is continuing to assess the damage in Georgia.
“We had the storm in our state a lot longer than Florida or South Carolina,” he said. “We’ve got a long track of damage to look into.”
Kemp said some areas have reported significant crop damage, including downed pecan trees and damage to expensive center-pivot irrigation equipment.
“Hopefully, the peanuts will be all right because they’re still in the ground,” he said.
Kemp said he and Georgia First Lady Marty Kemp plan to tour storm damage on Friday.
ATLANTA – Hurricane Idalia barreled into South Georgia Wednesday morning as a Category 1 storm, downing trees and powerlines and flooding local roads and highways.
About 61,000 customers were without power, Gov. Brian Kemp told reporters during a noon news conference at the State Operations Center in Atlanta. That number had risen to more than 200,000 by late Wednesday afternoon.
Areas in the hurricane’s path were being hit with sustained winds of up to 80 miles an hour, with gusts up to 90 mph, the governor said.
Some areas could get deluged with nine to 10 inches of rain, Kemp said. He said no injuries or deaths have been reported thus far.
“The good news is this is a narrow storm and very fast moving,” Kemp said. “We feel fairly confident we’re going to be able to get crews moving as we get into the afternoon. We have resources ready to do that.”
Idalia made landfall early Wednesday morning in the Big Bend area of Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 3 hurricane before weakening as it moved inland and into Georgia at about 10 a.m. It is expected to exit Georgia into South Carolina as a tropical storm between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Wednesday, Kemp said.
Idalia is not expected to cause as much damage in Georgia as Hurricane Michael, which tore through Southwest Georgia in 2018 as a Category 5 storm, battering farms and forests in the agricultural heartland of the state.
“It’s nothing to the scale Michael was,” Kemp said. “I’m hopeful it’s a good sign that I haven’t gotten calls.”
James Stallings, director of the Georgia Emergency Management/Homeland Security Agency, said it likely will be up to 72 hours after the storm before utility crews can get to the hardest hit areas to assess the damage and begin repairs.
“Our goal is to circle behind the storm and start providing resources as soon as we can,” he said.
While shelters are open and state parks are available, Stallings said there hasn’t been a large influx of Floridians in South Georgia fleeing the hurricane.
“They’re a very resilient state,” he said.
Kemp warned Georgians to remain vigilant as the storm moves through the Peach State.
“This is still a bad storm,” he said. “People need to be ready.”
