2023 Legislative Session Active and Successful

Gov. Newsom had until Oct. 14, 2023, to sign or veto 1,046 bills that were passed in both houses of the California legislature and were forwarded to his desk. The first year of a two-year session, 2023 was a very active and successful year for Wine Institute and the wine community, as bills that sought to redefine long-standing tied house and licensing laws were front and center. View the complete list of Wine Institute-tracked legislation. 

This year began with a significant uptick of in-person activity as the state capitol finally moved beyond the devastating COVID-19 conditions. Meetings with state legislators and staff, hearing attendance and testimony are now close to pre-pandemic conditions. We are also in new surroundings as legislative offices have moved to the new “swing space” as re-construction of capitol grounds and buildings progresses. 
 
A top priority for Wine Institute was defeating the Amazon-sponsored SB 430 that would have created a tied house exception allowing Amazon to solicit advertising from alcohol producers on its streaming platforms despite owning a large number of retail alcohol licenses, most notably Whole Foods Markets. This would have fostered a “pay to play” environment in these stores. SB 430 was a threat to all wineries and would have had ramifications beyond California, dramatically reducing access, weakening competition and giving large retailers additional leverage over wineries. Wine Institute led a coalition composed of wholesalers, craft brewers and the Teamsters to convince the Assembly leadership and members of the Appropriations Committee to hold the bill. The bill is now dead and not eligible for further action. We owe a special thanks to those members as well as regional wine and winegrape associations who reached out to legislators to express their opposition.

Wine Institute was also able to successfully gain amendments to Senator Dodd’s SB 353, which ensured wine containers labeled prior to Jan. 1, 2024, would not need to be re-labeled with CRV indicia. We also sought and gained amendments to clarify the beverage manufacturer definition when a third-party bottler is used and to clarify that containers used in winery tasting rooms are exempt from the Bottle Bill program. 
 
Other legislative action impacting wineries came from labor unions and employee groups as a number of bills were introduced and signed into law. One that would have enabled striking workers to receive unemployment benefits was vetoed by the governor, but another that increased the number of paid sick leave days was approved. 

On the climate front, the approval of two bills designed to address emissions reporting by large companies with annual revenue in California of over $500 million (SB 261) and $1 billion (SB 253) may be impactful to wineries. We will be sharing more details on those in the coming weeks. 

A rainy winter helped to moderate wildfire concerns for this year, however, insurance remains a concern for those seeking coverage at a reasonable cost. The Select Committee on Wine has shared that they will be holding an informational hearing on Nov. 6 on insurance issues, as well as wine’s entrance into the Bottle Bill program.