Tag Archives: Statewide

The Hops are free! It’s time to celebrate!

Free the Hops glass - courtesy of freethehops.orgThis morning Governor Riley signed the “Free the Hops” bill into law, news that seemed to make most of the folks here in Birmingham and the rest of the state of Alabama quite happy as Memorial Day weekend begins.

Here in the Magic City, it’s been announced that there will be a celebration this evening at The J. Clyde beginning at 5 p.m. that will feature a cask ale courtesy of Good People Brewing Company. It also means that all drinks and appeitzers will be $4.

Photo: Courtesy of freethehops.org.

Free the Hops bill passed by Alabama State Senate

Visitors trying to Google “Free the Hops” and trying to access their website are currently meeting a 504 error.  We’re thinking it’s because of the traffic being generated by fans of specialty & gourmet beers throughout the state celebrating the passage of HB 373 earlier this afternoon. This afternoon at 2:56 p.m., Free the Hops shared via Twitter words that its supporters have been waiting to hear since it was founded in 2004…

FREE THE HOPS PASSED! WE DID IT

The bill was passed while Senator Hank Erwin was outside of the Senate chamber in Montgomery. The bill currently awaits the signature of Governor Riley. The organization’s making a plea on their blog with additional information about the next step in the process.

No tax on groceries? Could be…

The Alabama State House of Representatives passed a measure yesterday that would allow voters to decide via referendum in November if they will pay state taxes on groceries. The bill would also take away the ability for some taxpayers to deduct their Federal income tax from their amount of state taxes due as a replacement for revenue, leading to some interesting discussion and opinions.

According to the article in today’s Birmingham News, the bill’s sponsor believes that the measure, if approved, would save a majority of the state’s taxpayers money. It would also still allow taxes to be charged at the local and county level.

What do you think? Click here to let us know.

Why Free the Hops?

Beer closeup - Bob Farley/f8photoThat’s a great question — that’s why we invited Free the Hops president Stuart Carter to be our guest blogger over on my Birmingham today to share the case for support of HB 196 and SB 116 & 355. The state house bill comes up for discussion tomorrow in Montgomery and could greatly affect not just Birmingham but the entire state.

Head on over, check out the post, share your comments and pass it on to others that you think may be interested!