Brewers, stroke care and MLK memorial on Senate slate
photo/STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
State Senate President Karen Spilka (D-Ashland) and Sen. Jason Lewis (D-Winchester).
Senators on Thursday plan to take up bills addressing craft breweries, stroke care and a memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr., according to Senate President Karen Spilka.
A bill (S 2829) that emerged Sunday night from the Senate Ways and Means Committee would allow any qualified brewer that produces under 250,000 barrels of beer a year to terminate their relationship with their current distributor without having to show cause. In exchange, the brewer would have to pay fair market value for the brand and buy back the wholesaler's inventory and promotional materials.
"That is economic recovery, jobs, survival of the burgeoning craft brewery industry in Massachusetts, and it also helps the distributors, so it really is a good bill," said Spilka, whose district includes craft breweries like Jack's Abby and Exhibit 'A', both in Framingham.
Two bills related to strokes (S 1306, S 2768) were referred to the Senate Ways and Means Committee during Monday's session after the Health Care Financing Committee did not act on them by a reporting deadline. Members of the Ways and Means Committee were given until 10 a.m. Thursday to vote on a redrafted bill, which, according to a summary, requires the Department of Public Health to publish a designated list of stroke facilities and to annually update transport protocols for stroke patients. It also establishes a Stroke Advisory Task Force.
The House on Wednesday appointed three members -- Reps. William Straus, Mark Cusack and Norman Orrall -- to a conference committee that will seek to iron out differences between House and Senate versions of a transportation infrastructure bond bill. The Senate could name its negotiators during Thursday's formal session, which is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
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