All my friends who watch TV in Okla. have undoubtedly sen the ads lately about Anheiser Busch having to leave Ok. if the bill passes. So I did a little research ( As all informed Voters should do) Here’s the short version as I see it.
If it passes the House and Senate it will then go to a vote of the PEOPLE in Nov as ALL Laws should.
This Bill House Bill SJR68 basically means that we could have Cold Beer in Liquor stores, Over 3.2 beer and Wine in Grocery and certain Convenience Stores. What AB is crying Foul over is the fact that it would limit the way that the Brewer can Distribute their product.
That being said, AB purchased the local Distributor here in OKC a few years back (Many of you have seen the new place at 240 and eastern) Mainly because they could, and to eliminate a middleman in their supply chain.
As a Truck driver who hauls into that place quite often I am interested in how this is going to work. The Bill means that they would have to go back to the way it was before and there be a 3rd party distributor in OKC as there is in other parts of the state. The “Jobs that would be lost” would be Lost to AB not to Oklahomans, Most of those employed there would be employed by the Distributor that comes in or is created. The supply Chain that the consumer sees would remain the same. It just means that AB would not have the monopoly on their Beer Distribution in Central OK.
I must add that the Beer industry is one of the most Truck Driver UNFRIENDLY industries in this country. I haul into and out of 2 different AB breweries and Miller Coors in Golden, CO. on a weekly basis and hate having to go there to load they want us to be on time but, don’t care if it takes them 8 hours to load us. So I personally cannot sympathize with AB crying Foul.
So as I have said Look into things for yourself investigate before you vote, don’t just vote one way or another because of TV ads.