Legislation to allow wine shipments in South Dakota is moving to another committee, after failing to pass out of the Senate Commerce and Energy committee it’s second time through. Senate Bill 114 made it out of committee last week without recommendation, but the bill was sent back to Commerce from the Senate floor. No further testimony was heard Tuesday, but the bill was reconsidered to allow Senator Dan Lederman the chance to vote after being absent last week. Lederman says he continues to disagree with the measure.
“I don’t feel that it is fair to our local businesses to give not only a tax break to out-of-state shippers, but to also give them a lower amount for their license fee. I also saw some problems with the bill with the lack of penalty, criminal penalty, for selling to minors, which was brought by the opponent testimony, and I think a lot of us have read it in the papers where minors were able to get their hands on alcohol,” Lederman says.
Committee members who favor the measure say it's what constituents want. It would allow consumers to purchase wine from out-of-state vendors and have it directly shipped to their home. A motion to send the bill to Appropriations was approved.