HDA Celebrates 1-Year Anniversary

We’re a few weeks late as we celebrate the 1-year anniversary of the Hobby Distiller’s Association, but with good reason. Before we get into our latest updates, let’s look back on how far we’ve come in the past year:

• March 2014: Hobby Distiller’s Association founded and hired our lobbyist.
• April 2014: The HDA is featured in theDallas Morning News and on NBC5 in DFW.
• May 2014: The HDA is featured in the Denver Post.
• June 2014: Our lobbyist meets with several senators in DC and organizes an initiative for HDA leadership to meet with members of Congress as well.
• July 2014: The HDA is featured in Maxim magazine’s article Why Homemade Booze Costs $500,000.
• August 2014: HDA members send out letters/meeting requests to their senators and House representatives.
• September 2014: HDA leadership, members of membership committee, and HDA lobbyist meet with Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, Representative Michael C. Burgess, and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) in multiple trips to Washington DC.
• October – January 2014: Language for a bill that would legalize home distilling as a hobby is drafted with the help of Legislative Counsel.
• February 2015: HDA leadership and HDA lobbyist meet with the Senate Finance Committee as well as the Assistant Secretary of Tax Policy at the Department of theTreasury.
• March 2015: The HDA is featured in the Denton Record-Chronicle.
• April 2015: HDA lobbyist follows up with members of Congress from previous meetings in Washington DC.

We’ve clearly made great strides in the past year, and we’re close to more milestones with your continued interest and support. I know that we live in a culture of “instant gratification” nowadays, but the fact that good, old-fashioned hard work pays off in the long run still holds true.

We chose to first address legalization on the federal level over the state level because several states’ local laws already either tolerate hobby distilling or default to the federal law. Therefore, once hobby distilling becomes legal federally, a group of states will enjoy legalization immediately. Also, per Legislative Counsel, states will put up much less of a fight in altering their laws to reflect federal legislation than the other way around—meaning it’s easier to change state laws than federal laws, especially if federal law already supports legalization. Recall that home brewing became legalized in the same way: first federally, then by state.

So to officially (and belatedly) celebrate the 1-year anniversary of the Hobby Distiller’s Association, we are launching a redesign of our website soon. This one won’t simply be a WordPress template, but it will be as unique as we are. You’ll receive more information for the new site next week, but here’s a sneak peek:

Finally, the results of recent meetings between our lobbyist and members of Congress are starting to trickle in, and we will share more news with you soon. As I’m sure you understand, due to the delicate nature of our position, we can’t reveal much because we don’t want to impede any of our progress, but expect to hear more over the next month. Thanks again for your continued support of our cause.