If passed,
Senate Bill 803 is set to breathe new life into Virginia's distilled spirits
industry
Senate Bill 803 proceeds through the Virginia
General Assembly ranks as state legislators continue to evaluate whether or not
they want to foster the Commonwealth's burgeoning distilled spirits industry.
Virginia is a control state for distilled spirits, which requires the state's
distilleries to operate as government ABC stores. This means Virginia
distilleries must sell their products using the state-imposed markup structure
while shouldering 100 percent of the operational costs for a distillery store.
SB803 will allow Virginia distilleries to keep the state-imposed markup for
product that they sell onsite at distilleries, and as a result never moves
through the state fulfillment system.
As of last
week, the bill passed the full Senate floor, and will now proceed onward to the
House for crossover. "Support from the Senate for commonsense legislation
to advance fair policy for Virginia distillers, who are also Virginia farmers,
Virginia employers in rural communities and drivers of Virginia's tourism has
been tremendous," said Virginia Distillers Association (VDA) Government
Affairs Director Curtis Coleburn.
SB803 Patron
Senator Bryce Reeves identifies with many of the unique and excessive
challenges faced by Virginia distillers. "We should be doing everything we
can to promote and reward small businesses and their operators in Virginia -
SB803 does just that. It allows distilleries to keep more of their well-earned
proceeds," explained Senator Reeves.
Distilled
spirits are the only consumer good where our state government is an active
market participant. In addition to the state-imposed markup which averages 69
percent but can be as high as 93 percent, Virginia adds on a 20 percent excise
tax to all distilled spirits sales. Virginia has the second highest excise tax
for distilled spirits in the nation, at 20 percent of the retail shelf price
($30.88/gal for distilled spirits for a bottle that retails for $30.59
excluding Virginia sales tax). On a per gallon basis, this is more than 19
times greater than the state excise tax on table wine ($1.51/gal), and 117
times greater than the state excise tax on beer ($0.26/gal). To better
understand the economics of distilling and selling spirits in the Commonwealth,
CLICK HERE for an overview. SB803 will allow distilleries to keep the
state-imposed markup (averaging 69 percent but as high as 93 percent) for all
sales at their distilleries; allowing them to reinvest in their businesses.
The markup
formula how the state sells product is the same whether product is sold at
distilleries, or at local ABC stores. Subsequently, distillery operators
shoulder 100% percent of the expenses for operations (e.g. employees, overhead,
credit card processing machines, etc.). In exchange, distillery store operators
receive a commission of 8 percent of sales for product sold at distillery
stores. That commission was formerly 15 percent, but was reduced to 0 percent,
then 8 percent in 2015 by ABC. As a result, distillery stores render a higher
rate of return to the Commonwealth at 40.52 percent vs. 35.03 percent for the
state's own government ABC stores." See p. 34 of Virginia ABC's 2017
fiscal report for further information.
