Sam Mattison
Alabama Political Reporter
Governor Kay Ivey signed a bill on Thursday that would get rid of a requirement for breweries and alcohol manufacturers to report personal information about their customers to the State government.
Before this law, manufactures and breweries were required to report personal information such as names and addresses of private citizens who purchased alcohol directly from them. This information was reported to the Alabama Alcohol Beverage Control Board.
The law’s sponsor Senator William Holtzclaw (R-Madison) said the law will help to keep government out of transactions between breweries and private citizens. He said the law will protect alcohol consumers in Alabama.
“We have at least nineteen craft beer companies in the state now, and more are coming online soon,” Holtzclaw said in a statement. “Each year, tens of thousands of Alabamians responsibly enjoy some of the best craft beer in America, brewed in places like Huntsville and Madison. Going forward, those customers can enjoy great beer from microbreweries across Alabama, without having to fork over personal information to fulfill a burdensome government regulation.”
Holtzclaw sponsored past alcohol legislation in 2016 that would allow breweries to sell portable containers to customers. At the time, ABC informed him that they would need to record the personal information of those customers.
Holtzclaw said this law would correct ABC’s “misstep” in recording the information of costumers.
Breweries and manufactures will still have to report information regarding commercial customers including gas stations proprieties and restaurant owners.
Holtzclaw said the bill was to stop ABC from collecting information from ordinary citizens.
