READ FIRST TIME 03/12/07.   

     WHEREAS, The Liquor Control Board was established in 1933 to oversee the sale, manufacture, and distribution of liquor in this state; and
     WHEREAS, Many of the laws relating to the manufacture, distribution, and sale of beer and wine have either not been substantially amended or been amended in a disjointed piecemeal manner since 1933; and
     WHEREAS, Since 1993 there have been 91 bills introduced in the legislature dealing with the sale, distribution, or manufacture of beer and wine in this state, 16 of those bills being introduced during the 2007 session; and
     WHEREAS, The legislature has spent countless hours dealing with bills that create many small exemptions from provisions governing beer and wine sales and tied house;
     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, By the Senate of the state of Washington, the House of Representatives concurring, That the laws dealing with the sale and manufacture of beer and wine be thoroughly reviewed; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a joint select committee on beer and wine regulation be established to review laws relating to the manufacture, distribution, and sale of beer and wine to determine whether the laws should be continued in their present form or reformulated to decrease the number of bills introduced in the legislature each year; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the committee shall consist of eight members; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the chair and ranking minority member of the Senate labor, commerce, research and development committee and the chair and ranking minority member of the House commerce and labor committee shall each be appointed to the committee; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the leaders of the two largest caucuses in the Senate shall each appoint one member of their respective caucuses to the committee; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the leaders of the two largest caucuses in the House of Representatives shall each appoint one member of their respective caucuses to the committee; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That Legislative members of the committee must be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120; that expenses of the committee must be paid jointly by the Senate and the House of Representatives, and that committee expenditures are subject to approval by the Senate facilities and operations committee and the House of Representatives executive rules committee, or their successor committees; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the committee shall choose its cochairs from among its membership, and that the chair of the Senate labor, commerce, research and development committee and the chair of the House commerce and labor committee shall convene the initial meeting of the committee; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the committee report its findings and recommendations to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2008; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the committee shall expire July 1, 2009.