Yesterday, December 16th, in a news conference held at Dunedin Brewery, Senator Jack Latvala (R-Clearwater) and Representative Chris Sprowls (R-Palm Harbor) announced that they will sponsor legislation in each of their respective chambers to legalize 64-oz growlers in Florida.
This marks the third attempt by The Florida Brewers Guild and the craft brewers in the state to get such legislation passed. Latvala helped sponsor legislation in a previous session, only to see the legislation marked up after going to committee and have to vote against the same bill.
Many eyes are watching the legislature as the debate on 64oz growlers begins again. Verbal approval has been passed along that the Florida Beer Wholesalers Association, the beer distributor’s lobby, will not interfere with the growler bill this year. Also different this year is the vacancy of John Thrasher’s position, the senator who chaired the Senate committee hearing over the Growler Bill.
Hopefully Latvala and Sprowls will continue to bring some sense to this debate and get this legislation passed.