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Maine Legislature to Consider Bills to Fix Issues with Wine Tasting Laws
Repeal of "no children" provision sought
I have previously written about the 2009 amendment to Maine’s wine tasting laws which requires that tastings be "conducted in a manner that precludes the possibility of children" viewing the tasting, and the problems created by that provision. After that law went into effect, legislators acknowledged that the provision as enacted was a mistake, and was never meant to apply to small shops. However, it was impossible to fix the law until the next legislative session, which begins on January 6, 2010.
There are currently two proposed bills aimed at correcting the "no children" aspect of the tasting law. One is sponsored by Representative Stacey Fitts of Pittsfield; the other is sponsored by Representative David Webster of Freeport, the legislator who introduced the "no children" amendment that made it into the final bill that was passed in 2009.
The Fitts bill would remove the "no children" language from the law, and simply require that shops post a sign notifying customers of upcoming tastings. Webster’s bill, which also removes the "no children" language and requires a notification sign, has a restriction on shop tastings which requires a 15-foot "buffer zone" to enable shoppers to avoid the tasting area if they wish to do so. It also has a somewhat confusing provision which exempts specialty shops and smaller shops from this requirement, but this provision contains several ambiguities. At a recent meeting in Portland concerning these bills, it was suggested that this provision could be replaced by a square footage minimum, with any shop under that size being exempt from the "buffer zone" requirement.
The first step in the legislative process will be public hearings on the bills before a legislative committee. The Fitts bill has already been referred to the Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee, but a public hearing date has not yet been set. Webster’s bill has not yet been referred to that Committee, but that should happen soon. Hopefully, several shop owners will make the trip to Augusta to testify in favor of at least one of the bills. Meanwhile, shop owners are in the process of circulating petitions to their customers asking them to signal their support for changes in the wine tasting laws, including repealing the "no children" provision. These petitions will then be submitted to the legislators during the public hearing process.