I Should Be a Lobbyist

A funny thing happened over the weekend. The Dulcinea and I were moving a sewing table from her garage out to the curb when who should drop by to investigate free stuff? It was none other than state senator Mark Miller and his wife. OK, I lied. It was technically his wife followed by the senator from Monona. I availed myself of this opportunity for democracy and ran inside, grabbed my bottle of New Glarus Dancing Man Wheat (a highly tasty beer), and ran back out saying, "Save our microbrewers!" After voicing my opposition to the Brewpub Tourism Development Act, he asked why and I explained myself and related some of the proceedings at the hearing last Wednesday. He is a sponsor of the bill yet had no idea about the provisions that would limit the expansion of various microbrewers. When I mentioned the distributors, he got a slightly flustered looking on his face and said, "Yeah, they got something put into the Democrat's version of the state budget too."

In retrospect, I feel sorry for Miller. I mean, he and his wife – very nice folks the both of them - were out running errands and then suddenly he finds himself accosted by a big fat sweaty guy angrily wielding a bottle of hefe weizen. But I suppose that's the kind of thing you've gotta put up with when you're an elected representative in Wisconsin. Another lesson is that the microbrewers of this state have a lot of PR work to do to get people, both elected officials and citizens, to understand that the BTDA does more than allow the Great Dane to start brewing at their Hilldale location.