Lowering Federal Excise Taxes, Part 2

[Melkon Khosrovian]

Most of you know of our 2+ year-old effort to create a Federal Excise Tax differential -- e.g., lower tier for Micro Spirits Makers. It's been a long journey, but we may have some good news soon in the form of a bill being crafted by a member of the U.S. Congress to address our needs. We'll share more details as soon as we get something official to post.

In the mean time, it's time to get our veritable ducks in a row and get ready for the biggest push this effort has seen so far in order for any bill that comes out in our support to become law.

The first step is for all of us to co-sign the proposal, if you haven't done so already. A number of you have reached out to me recently to add your support to the proposal, which I appreciate. The latest draft reflects these additions. If I've skipped anyone, please accept my apologies -- it's been a very busy time for us and I may have left someone off the signature page.

The second step is for everyone who knows of qualifying spirits makers who haven't co-signed the proposal to reach out to them and ask them to log onto this forum and voice their support. We should have more than 200 qualifying spirits makers who'll benefit from this proposal's passage, but have less than 100 signatures. I'd like for us to get to at least 100 co-signers before we begin our public outreach for a potential bill.

I'm working on a simple plan for the third step, which will involve building awareness and support for this potential bill by lobbying our own members of the House and Senate, and local and state politicians, as well as reaching out to the public and media in our local markets. Look for another post with this plan shortly.

In the mean time, let's gather some more signatures!

Reduced_FET_SmallProducers.pdf

[Denver Distiller]

A big thanks for all the work that's been done on our behalf, Mr. Khosrovian.

[Jonathan Forester]

I'm going to be maintaining this list, and deleting all but the latest of these posts to keep the thread shorter.

Here's an easy way to sign on.

Just add your company's name, city and state to the list below and re-post.

1. Modern Spirits LLC, Monrovia, CA

2. Colorado Gold LLC, Cedaredge, CO

3. Tuthilltown Spirits, Gardiner, NY

4. Dry Fly Distilling, Spokane, WA

5. Ellensburg Distillery LLC Ellensburg, WA

6. Dynamic Alembic Artisan Distillers, Mattawa, WA

7. Great Lakes Distillery LLC, Milwaukee, WI

8. Drum Circle Distilling, Sarasota, FL

9. Grand Traverse Distillery, Traverse City, MI

10. Mystic Mountain Distillery, Larkspur, CO

11. Pacific Distillery LLC, Woodinville, WA

12. Delaware Phoenix Distillery, Walton, NY

13. Heartland Distillers, Fishers, IN

14. Fat Dog Spirits, Tampa, FL

15. Harvest Spirits LLC, Valatie, NY

16. Cascade Peak Spirits, Ashland, OR

17. New Holland Brewing Co. and Artisan Spirits, Holland, MI

18. Newport Distilling Company, Newport, RI

19. 45th Parallel Spirits LLC. New Richmond, WI

20. Gnostalgic Spirits, Ltd., Seattle, WA

21. Blackwater Distilling Inc., Annapolis, MD

22. RoughStock Distillery, Bozeman, MT

23. The Solas Distillery, Omaha, NE

24. Parched Group LLC, Richmond, VA

25. AEppelTreow Winery, Burlington, WI

26. Leopold Bros. Small Batch Distillers, Denver, CO

27. The American Distilling Institute

28. The Brewers of Indiana Guild

29. Sweetgrass Farm Winery & Distillery, Union, ME

30. Downslope Distilling Inc., Littleton, CO

31. North Shore Distillery LLC, Lake Bluff, IL

32. Finger Lakes Distilling LLC, Burdett, NY

33. St. George Spirits Inc., Alameda, CA

34. Philadelphia Distilling, Philadelphia, PA

35. Distillery 209, San Francisco, CA

36. Peak Spirits, Hotchkiss, CO

37. Maine Distilleries, Freeport, ME

38. Clear Creek Distillery, Portland, OR

39. Ryan & Wood Inc, Gloucester, MA

40. Artisan Spirits, Portland, OR

41. Bendistillery, Bend, OR

42. Brandy Peak Distillery, Brookings, OR

43. Dolmen Distillery, McMinnville, OR

44. Highball Distillery, Portland, OR

45. House Spirits, Portland, OR

46. Indio Spirits, Tigard, OR

47. Integrity Spirits, Portland, OR

48. Northwest Distillery Inc, Warren, OR

49. McMenamins Edgefield Distillery, Troutdale, OR

50. New Deal Distillery, Portland, OR

51. Ransom Distillery, McMinnville, OR

52. Rogue Spirits, Portland, OR

53. Sub Rosa Spirits, Portland, OR

54. Integrity Spirits, Portland, OR

55. Wolf Bros Distillers, Rochester, NY

56. Titos Handmade Vodka, Austin, TX

57. Essential Spirits Alembic Distilleries, Mountain View, CA

58. Dutch's Spirits, Pine Plains, NY

59. Las Vegas Distillery LLC, Las Vegas, NV

60. River Town Distillers LLC, Snohomish, WA

61. Odyssey Beverage Group, Seattle, WA

62. Balcones Distilling, Waco, TX

63. Hawj Brother's Distillery, Yuba City, CA

64. Odyssey Beverage Group, Seattle, WA

65. Colorado Pure Distilling, Lakewood CO

66. Tombstone Spirits LLC, Southern Tempe, AZ

67. Sound Spirits, Seattle, WA

68. Garrison Brothers Distillery, Hye, TX

69. Mt St Helens Spirits LLC, Amboy WA

70. Flagler Spirits. Palm Coast, FL

71. Few Spirits, LLC, Evanston, IL

72. Entente Spirits, LLC, Baroda, MI

73. Railean Distillers, LLC, San Leon, TX

74. Kymar Farm Distillery, Charlotteville, NY

75. Rock Town Distillery, Little Rock, AR

76. Decotech, Englewood, NJ (Supplier)

77. Forward Brands Distillery, Phoenix, Az

78. Valley Spirits L.L.C., Modesto, CA

79. StilltheOne Distillery LLC, Port Chester, NY

80. Bare Distillery LLC, Anchorage, AK

81. Island Distillers Inc., Honolulu HI

82. Oakstone Spirits, Santa Barbara, CA

83. MB Roland Distillery, Inc, Pembroke, KY

84. Smooth Ambler Spirits, Maxwelton, WV

85. Florida Farm Distillers, Umatilla, FL

86. Flathead Distillers, Whitefish, MT

87. Spirit of Texas, Pflugerville, TX

88. Vermont Spirits Distilling Co., Quechee, VT

89. The Little Egg Farm and DIstillery, Stone Ridge, NY

90. Napa Valley Distillery, Napa, CA

91. Blue Star Distillery, Castle Park, MI

92. Bluewater Spirits LLC, Pensacola, FL

93. Ventura Limoncello Company, Ventura, CA

94. Wylie Howell Spirts, Walnut Creek, CA

95. Graham Barnes Distilling, Austin, TX

96. Double Diamond Distillery LLC dba Breckenridge Distillery, Breckenridge, CO

97.

[Melkon Khosrovian]

Thanks, Jonathan.