A Controversy Is Brewing Over The State’s Government Shutdown, And It Involves Beer
(Editor’s Note: Perhaps beer saved the day. The governor and legislature have reached a compromise. Still, here’s what can happen when governments shut down operations).
Here’s a way to get a state legislature to quit playing politics and get down to budget business: Cut off voters’ supply of beer!
That’s essentially what has happened in Minnesota.
The government has shut down because of stubborn lawmakers and the state has declared that Miller-Coors must stop distributing beer there plus pull all its products in stores and even the bars.
The reason: The Department of Public Safety says the brewer’s license has expired and, with no functioning government, there’s no way to renew it.
The state requires that licenses be renewed every three years and Miller-Coors paid for a renewal in mid-June. But it overpaid, so it recalled that check and by the time the state received the new one, the state claimed it was too late to process.
And it goes further than this – hundreds of bars may have to close if their license renewals come up during the government’s shutdown.
Well, if anything will get the taxpayers angry at their representatives, it is taking beer off the shelves and closing bars. Imagine if this carries onto football season and people can’t go to their favorite bars to watch the Vikings. Fans would be storming the Capitol Building like the Egyptian revolution.
There’s more beer in Minnesota, of course, than Miller-Coors and its various brands. There’s Anheuser-Busch with its Budwiser, Bud Light and dozens of other beers, including Stella Artois.
The legislators have until October to get their act together. Because that’s when A-B’s license expires.
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