{"id":3115,"date":"2011-04-20T11:00:07","date_gmt":"2011-04-20T16:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.guysdrinkingbeer.com\/?p=3115"},"modified":"2018-02-06T14:25:25","modified_gmt":"2018-02-06T20:25:25","slug":"save-the-craft-goliath-is-getting-bigger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.guysdrinkingbeer.com\/save-the-craft-goliath-is-getting-bigger\/","title":{"rendered":"Save The Craft: Goliath Is Getting Bigger"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Updated 4\/20\/11 to include former State Rep. Coy Pugh<\/strong>,\u00a0 former House Democratic staffer Liz Brown<\/strong>, Barbara Staples King<\/strong> and Jennifer Morrison<\/strong>.
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A little over a month ago we told you about the “Anheuser-Busch Bill<\/a><\/strong>” and some of the players that factored in to the legislation<\/a>. There is still no language for the bill, but insiders say A-B could make a strong push between now and the end of the legislative session on May 31st to gain self-distribution rights in Illinois. Even worse, A-B could use their array of big name lobbyists to kill Senate Bill 754<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On March 2nd, when we last addressed the AB Bill and the army of “hired guns” the brewing giant retained, they had nine lobbyists from five different firms. Today, AB has contracted out twelve<\/em> lobbyists from nine<\/em> different firms. Among them are three of their own lobbyists, a handful of former state lawmakers, three top aides and even a former chief legal counsel to the Illinois Liquor Control Commission. Let’s learn a little more about lobbyists A-B is using to fight against the self-distribution rights of craft brewers in Illinois and the political clout they bring to the table:<\/p>\n