Legislative briefs

Liquor bill follows similar track as beer legislation

Another front in the booze wars opened up this week, when legislation was introduced in the House to allow liquor distilleries to sell directly to consumers.

House Bill 460, sponsored by Economic Development Committee Chairman Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, is similar to Senate Bill 63, which would allow beer brewers to also sell limited quantities to drinkers. Current law requires beer and liquor manufacturers to sell only to wholesale distributors who then sell to retailers.

HB 460 would allow a consumer to buy up to 3.5 liters of liquor per day directly from the distillery. SB 63, sponsored by Sen. Hunter Hill, R-Smyrna, would allow brewers to sell a customer up to 72 ounces of beer to drink at the brewery and up to 144 ounces to take home. In layman’s terms, these are daily limits equivalent to 4.5 pints on tap and a 12-pack to go, respectively.

The state’s wholesalers oppose both bills, which have yet to receive committee votes.

— Aaron Gould Sheinin

House panel approves tech college system name change

A House higher education committee approved a bill Tuesday that would change the name of the state’s technical college network to the Georgia Career College System.

House Bill 315, sponsored by Rep. Chad Nimmer, is a priority of Gov. Nathan Deal, who proposed the name change last month as one of his top issues for the year. The new name is a better reflection of what the system does and will better attract students, Deal said.

Neither Nimmer nor system Commissioner Gretchen Corbin could provide lawmakers a rundown of costs to complete the name change, but they said expenses, such as stationery and sign printing, would be phased in so no additional funding would be needed.

The bill applies to the overall name of the current Technical College System of Georgia, but not the system’s 23 individual technical colleges.

Rep. John Pezold, R-Fortson, cast the lone no vote on the bill, saying money spent on the name change could better be used on educating students.

— Janel Davis

Feral hogs next on the legislative hunt list

First it was raccoons, and now lawmakers want to make it easier to catch or kill pesky feral hogs.

House Bill 475, sponsored by Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom McCall, R-Elberton, would make clear that feral hogs are not wildlife or wild animals under the law and exempt the pigs from Department of Natural Resources permitting for hunting or trapping.

The DNR has identified feral hogs as a growing problem in Georgia and across the Southeast. They damage crops and compete for food with deer, turkey and quail, and they can also carry diseases transmissible to humans and domestic animals.