Beer Bills at the Texas Legislature

Hey, remember me? I used to write a beer blog.

And I used to be a reporter for The Austin Chronicle. And 2011 really kicked butt, because I kind of became the go-to guy in Texas for reporting on beer-related legislation, because I was the only beer writer in the state who just happened to also be a Capitol reporter and could live-blog directly from committee meetings in Austin. My blog traffic went nuts every time I broke news on the bills.

That was fun, but I can't be that guy anymore, because now I'm working inside the legislature, rather than reporting on it. And because my boss, state Senator Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio, is one of the coauthors of this year's beer legislation.

So I'll just step aside and offer you, without commentary, links to the reporting of others. Here's what happened yesterday: After months of discussions between various stakeholders, bills were filed that would benefit craft brewers in Texas. Here's a sampling of the reporting:

Houston Chronicle

Dallas Observer

KXAN-TV

Brewed and Never Battered (Freetail Brewing)

Austin Chronicle

If you'd like to keep track of these bills yourself (and read the text, and get other details), go to these links and set up e-mail alerts that will notify you whenever the bills advance through the legislative process:

Senate Bill 515

SB 516

SB 517

SB 518