Senate Committee Advances Beer Compromise
AUSTIN (AP) - Texas craft brews are moving closer to grocery store shelves.
The state Senate will now consider a proposal to overhaul the way beer is sold in Texas under a compromise approved by an influential legislative committee on Tuesday evening.
Small brewers led by Freetail of San Antonio and St. Arnold's of Houston have been campaigning to expand their market. They say current laws unfairly favor out-of-state breweries.
The fight split the state's distributors, who have long held sway with lawmakers.
Senator John Carona, a Republican from Dallas, escalated the stakes by introducing a separate bill that could overhaul the whole industry's pricing structure. The committee approved a more modest version.
But Carona added an amendment tying the entire legislative package together for the votes still to come.
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