NOTE TO CRAFT BEER SUPPORTERS:

THANK YOU for all your support in helping us push the Stone Bill through the SC legislature. Below you will see the email Anheuser-Busch is sending all the SC State Senators.

You can help us fight back by visiting www.scbeerjobs.com.

They have all the money but we have the grassroots. The bill is now in confer-ence committee where just SIX legislators will decide it’s fate. We need you to flood their inboxes with emails.

Visit www.scbeerjobs.com

Thank you!!!

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The email you came here to read:

From: amanda@mdanielassoc.com [mailto:amanda@mdanielassoc.com] Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2014 10:24 AM Cc: wanda@mdanielassoc.com; Mike Daniel Subject: H.3512: Please Non-concur with House Amendments Senator: Mike Daniel, Wanda, and I wanted to touch base regarding H.3512, which was amended in the House yesterday and will be in the Senate this morning for concurrence or nonoccurrence. While our client, Anheuser-Busch, has no problem with the original bill regarding the use of coupons in liquor stores, they do have some serious concerns about one of the amendments added by the House which is intended to make SC a more amenable environment for craft brewers, in particular Stone Brewing Company. A-B is certainly not opposed to brewpubs being in the state, we are completely supportive of economic development initiatives, and we stand ready to work on a compromise plan that will address everyone's needs. However, the particular language

in this amendment and the manner in which the law would be changed would be detrimental to the current three tier system for alcohol distribution. Therefore, Anheuser-Busch's primary concern is that this amendment erodes the current system that works so well. We have been asked to share the following information to provide more background on our client's concerns. Thank you so very much for your consideration, Senator. We respectfully ask that you non-concur and refer the bill to a conference committee so that we have a chance to be heard in a committee setting before the General Assembly takes action. * This amendment erodes the current three tier system for alcohol distribution. It picks "winners and losers" in the beer marketplace by singling out a specific entity to which this law would grant a competitive advantage over other brewers, distributors, and even retailers. There are specific regulations and requirements that all brewers, wholesalers, and retailers must comply with under the three tier system. We are happy to provide you with more specifics regarding these items, but for now, the most important thing to note is that each step of the system is heavily regulated and carving out one group the way this amendment proposes to do will create an uneven playing field and give some brewers a competitive advantage over others. Anheuser-Busch's belief is that everyone should play by the same rules. * The increase in the amount/definition is a primary concern for us because there are already special laws for brewpubs which exempt them from certain requirements, and in the case of this amendment, it is of particular concern because it is taken in conjunction with the other items included in or omitted from this amendment. For example, there are no limits on the amount of beer that may be sold for off-premise consumption. In addition,

kegs, bottles, and cans would now be able to be sold to wholesalers with no limit.

* Also, while we understand there is the issue of potential jobs to think about, we are not sure how a brewpub producing 500,000 barrels a year will employ the 400 people folks seem to be claiming is the case. At Anheuser-Busch's Williamsburg brewery, they produce 8.5 million bar-rels of beer per year. While this is far more than the five hundred thousand allowed for brewpubs in the proposed amendment, A-B's Williamsburg brewery only employs 72 salaried employees. If you include all of the part time employees in the count, the total number of employees is still only around 250. Again, that's 250 total employees to produce 8.5 million barrels per year. We cannot imag-ine how 500,000 barrels per year will employ more than 400 people as claimed. * Anheuser-Busch is an advocate for beer period! The expansion of their industry is good for everyone. As stated above, A-B is certainly not opposed to brewpubs being in the state and they are completely supportive of economic development initiatives. How-ever, this language is a radical change to current law and should not be considered until all stakeholders have a chance to weigh in n the issue. Passing this language via a last minute amendment is just not good public policy. Amanda K. Wuenscher MIKE DANIEL & ASSOCIATES, PA GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS 1122 Lady Street, Suite 705 Columbia, South Carolina 29201 Office: 803.461.0400 Fax: 803.461.0399 Cell: 803.707.5466 mikedanielandassociates.com