Industry heavy hitters praise overhaul of Wisconsin alcohol laws, but wedding barn owners see trouble ahead

MADISON – Wisconsin’s Republican legislative leaders called their plan to modernize the state’s alcohol laws a rare and historic opportunity at a public hearing in the state Capitol, where the industry’s biggest players came out to support the bill but wedding barn owners claimed its requirements would run them out of business.

The bill, a product of nearly 10 years of negotiations, political spats, and, finally, a bipartisan compromise, would streamline and clarify a host of alcohol regulations in the state, touching everything from who can invest in new alcohol businesses, to winery operations, to when bars close during the Republican National Convention next summer.

“It is more important than ever to modernize our alcohol beverage laws,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said at Tuesday's hearing. Vos co-authored the bill with his Senate counterpart, Majority Leader Devin LaMahieu, R-Oostburg.

The bill, Vos said, “provides a rare opportunity to act on good faith negotiation among all those in the alcohol beverage industry.”

LeMahieu called the plan a “historic compromise,” noting that 11 industry groups have all signed off on it.

Wedding barn owner: 'This is an extermination bill'

The bill indeed has broad support among business groups in the industry. There is no business or association registered as lobbying against it. But owners of barns converted into wedding venues blasted the proposal and accused lawmakers of trying to shutter their venues.

“This is an extermination bill,” said Steve Nagy, owner of Homestead Meadows Farm in Outagamie County and an opponent of previous bills that would require wedding barns to get a liquor license. “I’m telling you … you’ll put us out of business.”

Under the plan, private event venues, including so-called wedding barns, that want to serve liquor would be required to get a new type of license to do so. The bill would create a license, called a “no sale event venue permit,” which would allow those renting the barn to bring in their own alcohol but would limit wedding venue owners to rent or lease the property on no more than six days per year and one day per month. The requirement would not apply to campgrounds nor parking lots where events occur, including tailgates.

Some wedding barn owners already have liquor licenses but others have for years resisted attempts to require them to get one. Such a requirement, they argue, is too expensive and antithetical to their business model, which is hosting events, not making or selling alcohol.

“Why wedding barns?” Nagy asked. “You're taking care of the Packers, you’re taking care of the Badgers, you’re taking care of the campgrounds. What is the basis for doing that? Why single wedding barns out?”

Rep. Michael Schraa, R-Oshkosh, called Nagy’s concerns “overdramatic.”

“This isn’t going to put you out of business,” he said.

Homestead Meadows already has 60 weddings booked this year, Nagy said. That many events with alcohol available on site would not be allowed under the current version of the bill.

New Glarus Brewing, Kwik Trip register support

Conversely, Deb Carey, president of New Glarus Brewing Company, the largest craft beer producer in the state, said she supported the bill and that it would not much affect her business.

Kwik Trip, New Glarus Brewing Company, along with Molson Coors and Anheuser-Busch have all registered support for the measure.

“There’s a lot of beers from other countries coming in here at deep discounts and that isn’t really healthy for the industry,” Carey said in an interview. This bill could help stem the tide of that.

“I’m happy to see some progress and cooperation within all tiers of the industry and associated industries … and politicians.”

The state’s hotel and lodging association applauded the measure, which includes extending closing hours for bars and taverns located in Kenosha, Racine, Walworth, Rock, Milwaukee, Waukesha, Jefferson, Dane, Ozaukee, Washington, Dodge, Columbia, Sheboygan, or Fond du Lac County for the Republican National Committee’s convention, to be held July 15-18 2024.

“Many of the convention attendees will need to travel 1 to 2 hours to their lodging accommodations, making Wisconsin's 2:00 am bar time too early for them to enjoy a glass of Wisconsin wine, beer or distilled spirit with their dinner or truly experience a Wisconsin supper club,” Kathi Kilgore, a lobbyist for the Wisconsin Hotel and Lodging Association, wrote in a letter supporting the legislation.

A beefed-up enforcement system would be established under the bill, which would create a Division of Alcohol Beverages within the state Department of Revenue. The division would have separate bureaus dedicated to enforcement, legal services, and education and community outreach and provide money to hire 10 agents to enforce the law.

Department of Revenue Secretary Peter Barca was supportive of the bill and said the agency, which regulates tobacco and gaming, in addition to alcohol, is stretched thin.

Democratic state Rep. Francesca Hong, who owns Morris Ramen in downtown Madison, applauded the intention and work that went into the bill and said it was important to ensure the Department of Revenue had the resources it needed.

“We know the success of this bill is in its implementation,” she said. “I am concerned they are not setting up DOR to implement the bill.”

Another key change in the bill is how liquor licenses are administered in the state. Currently, such licenses are administered through municipalities, which have caps on how many they will offer at any given time. The price and number of such licenses available also vary by municipality, limiting how many new businesses can open.

If the bill becomes law, “you will see more opportunities for entrepreneurs to open something up and consumers to choose a location to eat, drink and enjoy themselves.”

The bill also:

• Expands operating hours for wineries and regulates them like craft breweries or distilleries.

• Provide a pathway for contract brewing, winemaking and distilling, which is a rapidly growing segment of the alcohol industry in Wisconsin. There is no guidance in current law for how facilities can contract with off-site producers to make alcohol.

• Allow individuals in the alcohol industry to invest in a new business that is also in the industry, but only up to a certain percentage. The investor would be barred from having a managerial role in the new business. Current law bars one kind of alcohol industry from investing in a new business in another part of the industry.

• Give retail licenses to axe-throwing facilities that accept underage customers without parental supervision.

The bill, released earlier this month, is scheduled for a vote in the Assembly on June 21. The Senate would then have to pass the bill before it goes to Gov. Tony Evers' desk.

Journal Sentinel reporter Jessie Opoien contributed to this story.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Overhaul to Wisconsin alcohol industry wins praise in Capitol hearing