June was a busy and interesting month; a lot was accomplished on the advocacy front and the 2024 election cycle is in full swing.

2024 Hill Climb

The Brewers Association (BA) hosted its annual Hill Climb June 11-12. 99 brewery owners, guild leaders, and supplier partners came to Washington, D.C. to advocate for small and independent breweries. Participants met with legislators to discuss a broad array of interests impacting our industry including support for the USPS Shipping Equity Act, the CHEERS Act, and the Credit Card Competition Act, as well as appropriations requests for the Alcohol Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) and hops and barley research. The hill climb was a successful event; we have seen seven new co-sponsors added to the legislation we support and four new members of the House Small Brewers Caucus.

Join the Conversation

With your help we can keep up the momentum! Connect with your federal officials and let them know that you support the following legislation:

USPS Shipping Equity Act

The USPS Shipping Equity Act is commonsense legislation that would allow small and independent breweries to use the postal service to ship beer in states where beverage alcohol shipping is legal. Breweries and other beverage alcohol producers face barriers to their customers through archaic shipping laws. Currently, 11 states and Washington, D.C. allow breweries to ship beverage alcohol products, but they are limited to using private carriers, which stifles competition.

The USPS Shipping Equity Act supports consumer choice and offers producers—many of whom are in rural or remote areas—the opportunity to reach their adult customers that may otherwise be unable to purchase the product locally or travel to acquire it. Direct-to-consumer (DtC) shipping serves as an important complement to the traditional three-tier system of beverage alcohol distribution. Allowing the USPS to compete in this market would be beneficial to breweries and consumers by increasing competition and providing additional avenues to ship their products. At the end of June, the legislation has 23 co-sponsors, and we need to continue to grow support. Use the BA’s Contact Congress form to email your representatives and let them know that your brewery supports the USPS Shipping Equity Act.

CHEERS Act

The Creating Hospitality Economic Enhancement for Restaurants and Servers (CHEERS) Act is bipartisan legislation that would help hospitality businesses by extending accelerated tax benefits for qualifying investments into energy-efficient systems to include keg and tap property, supporting the use of draught lines and keg equipment at restaurants and bars. The CHEERS Act impacts Section 179 of the tax code as it relates to energy-efficient draught beer properties primarily used in operating a restaurant or a bar. Hospitality businesses that undertake a remodel, refresh, repair, maintenance, or similar activities with respect to qualified energy-efficient draught property would be able to qualify for the deduction. It also addresses tax implications of lost or stolen kegs. To date, the legislation has 21 co-sponsors.

Credit Card Competition Act

The Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) is bipartisan legislation that would require the largest credit card issuing financial institutions in the country to enable the use of at least two unaffiliated credit card networks to process credit card transactions. The BA has continued to advocate for the legislation’s passage in the wake of the Visa and Mastercard settlement with merchants on excessive swipe fees. The lead sponsors of the legislation continue to work to get the language included as an amendment in must-pass legislation.

Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024

The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 is legislation that would potentially benefit small and independent breweries due to language that extends the allowance for depreciation, amortization, or depletion in determining the limitation on business interest, extending the 100% bonus depreciation for qualified property, and increasing limitations on expensing of depreciable business assets. The bill passed the House with strong bipartisan support and was added to the Senate legislative calendar under general orders in March but has not seen movement since then. If it fails to pass in 2024, there is still reason to be optimistic, as it and other tax provisions will be a priority in 2025.

The Presidential Debate

The first presidential debate was held on June 27, officially kicking off an already long election cycle. In addition to 2024 being a presidential election year, control of both the House and the Senate are in play. Republicans currently control the House and Democrats control the Senate, but each party has a chance to flip that majority. 43 U.S. representatives and 8 U.S. senators have announced that they aren’t seeking re-election, which means that before a single general election ballot is cast, close to 10% of the 119th Congress will likely be new members.

If you are interested in learning more about our federal and state legislative efforts, check out the BA’s legislative resource that lets you connect with your elected officials, see what legislation we are monitoring, and what issues we support and oppose.