WWI News

One of the biggest cutoff dates of the session happened March 8th, when all bills must be voted out of their respective chambers to be still “alive” and worthy of further consideration.

For WWI priorities this session, we are excited to share that a few of our top priority legislative proposals continue to move through the process while other very concerning bills we worked hard to educate lawmakers on the harm they would cause and to not support them moving forward by the March 8th cutoff.

HB 1258, a 300% increase in dedicated tourism funding for Washington State, passed the House 96-0.

SB 5448, our alcohol-to-go and outdoor seating modernization permanence bill, passed the Senate Wednesday afternoon (and just before the 5 PM cutoff deadline) by a vote of 38-10.

SB 5002, the .05 BAC bill, failed to receive a vote by the full Senate and for now appears to be no longer a consideration for this session.

Finally, HB 1131 a very long and comprehensive bill overhauling our waste management and recycling system died in the House Chamber.

As Washington State’s pandemic order was lifted as of September 30, 2022, temporary allowances for wineries that were in place have now expired. One we know of significant importance to our members was:

• The MAST 13 permit which allowed 18-20-year-olds to pre-pour samples, flights, and glasses of wine or beer for customers away from the customer’s table instead of having to pour wine or beer at the customer’s table. A person 21 years or older must be on duty supervising the sale. Washington Wine Institute is working with the LCB on rulemaking to make these changes permanent based on feedback from WWI members being favorable towards these allowances.

Curbside and home delivery is still allowed after the passage of HB 1480 in 2021 that created three-year temporary allowances for to-go sales from the tasting room, curbside service, and home delivery sales were allowed to continue.

COVID 19 Basic Requirements for All Workplaces 

The Washington Wine Institute has partnered with the Washington State Labor and Industries (L&I) agency for 2022-2023 to provide our members, and at certain times, the whole WA wine industry with educational opportunities and consistent communications on our state’s laws and rules around wages, labor practices, workplace safety, and all the elements of running a business that is regulated by L&I.

Today, we bring you a reminder of what L&I requires of all employers related to COVID-19.

At a minimum, all employers must do the following:

1. Keep workers known or suspected to have COVID-19 from working around others by following appropriate isolation guidance as outlined by the Washington State Department of Health (DOH).
2. Provide hand washing facilities and supplies, and regularly clean and sanitize surfaces.
3. Educate workers about COVID-19 prevention in the language they understand best.
4. Provide written notice of potential COVID-19 exposure within one business day to all workers, and the employers of subcontracted workers, who were at the same work site as a person who tested positive (without disclosing the person’s identity).
5. Report COVID-19 outbreaks to L&I within one business day when they involve 10 or more workers at a workplace or job site with more than 50 workers.
6. Address COVID-19 notification, reporting, and prevention measures in the employer’s workplace-specific, written Accident Prevention Program or equivalent safety program.
7. Allow workers to voluntarily wear masks (respirators, medical procedure masks, or cloth face coverings) and personal protective equipment (PPE) as long as it doesn’t create a safety or security issue.

Where masks are still required:

1. In health care settings, including long-term care settings (home/hospice) and correctional facilities.
2. The healthcare mask sign is also available in Russian, Spanish & Vietnamese.

Nothing Changes and WWI is Prepared to Push Back

This past week some of our members may have seen news articles covering a recent DTC wine shipping proposal that is coming from a non-profit group called the Uniform Law Commission (ULC). Below is an update on this work by our colleagues at WineAmerica, who work every day to watch our back within the halls of Congress as well as anything political or regulatory that impacts American wineries. If you are not a WineAmerica member yet, we strongly encourage you to join and help strengthen their efforts in Washington D.C. As stated well below, the work done in tracking this issue, removing the worst parts of the proposal if adopted, and now preparing to defend DTC in our state capital (and all 47 state capitals where winery DTC shipping is allowed) is an excellent example of the value you receive as a WWI member as well as being part of WineAmerica. Make no mistake, as we have done many times in the past, we WILL be ready if any attempts are made to threaten our DTC wine shipping privileges during the 2023 legislative session and beyond.

The Uniform Law Commission is a non-profit group of lawyers from around the country who draft and develop laws for state legislatures to adopt. The idea is that standardized laws are better for states in order to avoid confusion. Approximately three years ago they started looking into DTC shipping of beer and spirits, but that morphed to looking primarily at existing wine DTC laws. This was done without any real input from the wine industry. We must stress that this is only a model law. It does not change any state laws regarding DTC shipping as it has not been introduced in any state legislature. However, the ULC does recommend that states should adopt this legislation.

We must stress that this is merely a proposal that was approved by the ULC. No state laws have changed, but we need to be vigilant as an industry to make sure that our hard won DTC rights are not rolled back. This is a great example of the value of winery trade associations on both state and national levels, as well as the value of WineAmerica.

The new WA Wine specialty license plate goes into effect November 1, 2022, so set your calendars for 11/1/22 to put your request in for a new license plate honoring our state’s wine industry. We want to thank the incredible energy and hard work of our prime sponsor Rep. Chambers, our friends in the tourism industry pushing alongside us to get the bill done, and every WWI member and WA winery that signed the petition, sent requests out to their wine clubs and colleagues to sign the petition, those that signed in with support on the bill throughout the legislative process, and all other efforts that got HB 1530 to the finish line this year.

The WA State Department of Health recently updated the Food Code, which includes updates for dogs in food establishments including domestic winery licenses (wineries) and outdoors at food establishments (beer/wine restaurant license). Here’s a quick overview of the changes:

Outdoor eating areas

Restaurants that allow dogs in the outdoor serving area need to:

1. Submit a plan to their local health department and get approval in advance.
2. The dogs must go directly to outdoor area.
3. The outdoor area that allows dogs can’t be used for food or drink preparation.
4. No service ware storage or dish washing is allowed in the outdoor area.

Indoor

The Legislature passed a law with new rules for establishments like winery tasting rooms that don’t have food production and have a limited food selection. For these establishments:

1. A pre-approved plan is not required.
2. Signage is required saying dogs are allowed inside.
3. You must provide notice to your local health department.

Our friends at the WA Hospitality Association partnered with the Dept of Health to put together this short video explaining the changes.

For the past two years, Rep. Kelly Chambers (R-Puyallup) who owns a vineyard in the Chelan wine region, has introduced legislation creating a specialty license plate celebrating the Washington wine industry. Revenue generated from purchases of the license plate will go towards statewide tourism-related efforts, and specifically we are pushing for the funding to support marketing our many Washington wine regions.

WWI actively supports Rep. Chambers efforts and will be working with her to get a bill passed during the 2022 legislative session, and we need our members help! Below is a link to the online petition created to gather enough signatures to qualify for serious consideration by the legislature. We need at least 3,500 signatures, and exceeding this goal will certainly show Olympia that the idea has a ton of support and will be a revenue generator for our state.

Please take a moment to sign the petition and share with your wine team. If you are willing, we would also be grateful for members who can share the petition on their social media accounts and/or to their wine club lists. Finally, we are printing some flyers with QR codes directing people to the online peititon for wineries to post in their winery tasting room(s), so if you would like us to send you one or more posters just let us know!

WA Wine License Plate Petition

Governor Inslee announced a statewide mask mandate for all indoor spaces to go into effect Monday, August 23. This mandate includes those vaccinated and unvaccinated. For wineries and tasting rooms, everyone should wear a face covering anytime they are not actively eating or drinking.

Exemptions to the mask requirement are limited to office spaces not easily accessible to the public and small, private indoor gatherings where everyone is vaccinated. 

The Governor also announced a vaccination requirement for employees working in K-12, most childcare and early learning, and higher education.

We will continue to work with our industry partners to provide updates and information to best support you during this time. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of help in any way.