Last call: CA liquor delivery law ending after lobbying blitz

During the pandemic, California allowed craft distillers to ship spirits directly to customers. That temporary policy expires December thirty-first. According to CalMatters, a Sacramento-area Republican is pushing to make it permanent, but national alcohol distributors, the Teamsters union, and California's wine industry are working behind the scenes to block it. Those three groups have donated at least eleven million dollars to state politicians since two thousand, including seven hundred thirty-eight thousand dollars since the current legislative session began, with some key lawmakers receiving over one hundred thousand dollars each. Craft distillers have spent only fifty-three thousand dollars on lobbying this year—and some are already giving up, pulling back on shipping bottles because they expect the law to fail.

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