Californians who have grown used to ordering small-batch whiskey, gin and other craft spirits online and having them show up on their doorstep may soon have to find another way to stock their home bars.

A policy that has allowed the state’s craft distillers to ship directly to customers is set to expire at the end of the year, and a fierce, largely behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign is working to make sure it stays dead. The fight offers a telling glimpse into how deep-pocketed industry players can shape the fate of legislation in Sacramento.

The direct-shipping allowance traces back to the pandemic, when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order letting distillers ship spirits straight to consumers as bars and tasting rooms shut down. Lawmakers have since renewed the temporary measure multiple times, with the latest extension due to lapse Dec. 31.

A Republican lawmaker representing the Sacramento region is pushing to make the shipping option permanent. But the effort faces stiff opposition from national alcohol distributors, the Teamsters union representing truck drivers, and California’s powerful wine industry — all of which have been lobbying quietly to keep the temporary rule from becoming law.

Opponents say they’re not out to crush small distillers, even as alcohol consumption continues to decline nationwide. Still, it’s difficult to ignore the financial muscle behind the opposition. While the exact amount spent specifically fighting this bill isn’t clear, these interests have poured at least $11 million into California political campaigns since 2000, according to CalMatters’ Digital Democracy database — including at least $738,000 already this legislative session alone.

Some of Sacramento’s most influential lawmakers have received substantial contributions from groups opposing the shipping extension. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas has taken in at least $108,000 over the years, and Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón has received at least $33,000. Sen. Susan Rubio and her sister, Assemblymember Blanca Rubio — who each chair committees overseeing alcohol regulation — have collected at least $65,000 and $129,000, respectively.

By comparison, California’s craft distillers reported spending just $53,000 on lobbying this year. Cris Steller, acting executive director of the California Distillers Association and owner of two distilleries in El Dorado Hills, said he’s already begun scaling back home deliveries in anticipation that the law will not survive.

“I don’t want to keep putting money into a program that’s going to get yanked,” Steller said.

For local distillers throughout the Inland Empire and across Southern California who built pandemic-era direct-to-consumer business models, the coming change could mean rethinking how they reach loyal customers — many of whom came to rely on shipped bottles when tasting rooms were closed and have kept ordering ever since.

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In other statewide news, the California Highway Patrol has lost a six-year battle to fire a Los Angeles-based officer caught up in an overtime fraud scandal that rocked the department’s East Los Angeles patrol division. Nathaniel Partridge was one of dozens of officers disciplined in 2020 after CHP discovered inflated overtime claims totaling more than $200,000. Felony charges brought against 54 officers largely fell apart in court, and a state appellate panel recently ruled that a one-year unpaid suspension — not termination — was the appropriate penalty for Partridge, finding no clear evidence he intended to deceive the department.

Meanwhile, health officials are warning that looming federal Medicaid cuts won’t just hurt low-income Californians enrolled in Medi-Cal — they’re likely to ripple outward and raise costs for people with private insurance as well. As many as 2.2 million Californians could lose coverage by 2030 under provisions in President Trump’s 2025 spending law. Because hospitals are required to treat anyone who arrives in an emergency room regardless of insurance status, uncompensated care costs are expected to balloon by as much as $2 billion to $4 billion annually, according to the California Hospital Association. More than 3,000 hospital workers statewide have already been laid off as facilities brace for the fallout, and some financially strained hospitals could be forced to close.

Original source: CalMatters

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