Why did ACSA form the PAC?
Steve Johnson: The ACSA’s original founding members laid the ground work for all of us today, by repeatedly reaching out directly to their elected officials in Washington, D.C., using their own money and taking time away from their business, to solicit support of the growing craft distilling industry. These efforts paid off and every member now benefits from the reduced FET as well as the much greater awareness of our elected representatives of the craft distilling industry. A decade ago, there were some 200 distillers in the US; today there are nearly 2,000. The capital invested and the number of new jobs created is significant and will only keep growing. With that growth came a lot more work to organize our members and to maintain our involvement in Washington, D.C. With the passing of the FET reduction from $13.50 to $2.70 per proof gallon, the significance of this win, combined with the reality that the work ahead would only increase, in early 2018, the ACSA Board of Directors voted to create a Political Action Committee (PAC). The message was clear; the benefits to the industry were great and the necessity of creating a dedicated funding mechanism to fully support its legislative goals could not be overlooked. The PAC’s initial mandate was to aggressively pursue support for permanent FET reduction, as it was abundantly clear that, without financial support and sustained efforts, the tax reduction will simply constitute a temporary respite, rather than the incentive for growth of small businesses that it should and could be.
What are the PAC’s overall goals?
The overarching goal of the ACSA-PAC is to further our membership’s public policy goals at the national level and to work with the state guilds to support national issues which have an impact on members in their respective states. While the FET reduction is currently the most pressing priority and legislative concern, the PAC will be focused on all areas that support our industry. All of our members understand that we must consistently convey our message to legislators that we are expanding our industry, creating skilled manufacturing and related jobs, and supporting broad economic development, national agriculture and local tourism in response to the lifting of the excise tax burden. Of course, that is easier said than done. To communicate this message consistently and often, the ACSA-PAC is building an outreach campaign through national and local or state events which highlight “wins” made by individual distilleries and also “challenges” facing individual distilleries, and also the broader industry. Through our fund-raising efforts, the PAC is able to offer campaign support to specific candidates and officeholders, as well as associated events which are supportive of our industry; this includes establishing a permanent reduction of the federal excise tax, but also other increasingly pressing legislative priorities, such as Direct-to-Consumer Shipping, set by the membership and ACSA Board of Directors.
How can people donate and what’s a typical donation?
ACSA members in good standing can donate by completing an Authorization Form, which allows the ACSA to solicit donations and a Donation Form, with which the member provides the funds to the ACSA PAC. A member can request the two forms by sending an email to:
acsapac@americancraftspirits.org. The completed forms can be returned by email or by USPS to the ACSA’s office: P.O. Box 701414, Louisville, KY 40270. Donations can be made using a personal check or a personal credit card, and a series of payments can be established if that is easier for the member. The other method is to access the
PAC web page via the ACSA web site. All ACSA members are able to log on to this page and complete both the Authorization and Donation forms, and then submit their donation directly. A typical donation is $100.00; however, we encourage members to contribute whatever amount they can, without straining their own personal budgets. One option I have suggested is the PAC 1080 challenge; the difference between $13.50 and $2.70 is $10.80. If a member challenged each of their employees to contribute either a single payment of $10.80 or a series of monthly payments of $10.80, the total adds up and every dollar received is appreciated.
What are the restrictions on donations?
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) governs the rules of donating personal funds to support specific candidates, officeholders and political parties, and the ACSA and ACSA-PAC adhere strictly to these federal laws. For the most part, the guidelines are fairly clear: Contributions to ACSA PAC are voluntary, are used for political purposes and not deductible for federal income tax purposes. Without digging too deep into the world of the policy wonk, our requiring a member to first complete the Authorization form is the beginning of the campaign support process. Your authorization says that the ACSA has your permission to keep you up-to-date on the ACSA PAC’s programs and activities. The authorization form does not obligate you to contribute to the PAC or limit contributions you may make to candidates or party organizations. The purpose of this form is to provide the authorization required by Federal law to allow ACSA PAC to include the administrative and executive personnel of member companies in the political process through personal contributions.
Digging a little deeper, here is the skinny on the ACSA-PAC restrictions:
The ACSA PAC may not accept contributions from Corporations, Professional Corporations, S Corporations or Limited Liability Partnerships or Companies taxed as corporations; and, no check or credit card contribution may be made on the account or credit card of such a business entity.
Contributions may be accepted from the following business entities:
1. Partnerships (no portion may be attributed to corporate members or foreign nationals)
2. Limited Partnerships
3. Sole Proprietorships (as long as not incorporated)
4. Limited Liability Partnership (as long as not taxed as a corporation)
5. Limited Liability Company (as long as not taxed as a corporation)
6. Single member Limited Liability Company which does not elect corporate status
I am more than happy to receive a member’s questions to clarify the above guidelines or answer (most) other questions about the PAC.
Is there a way members can get involved beyond donations?
Yes, absolutely. While member donations help ACSA support the goals of the membership, all ACSA members can get involved from the comfort of their distillery office. Our elected officials like to hear good news and every ACSA member should have something positive to report; telling your elected officials about the new jobs you have created, the new equipment you purchased or a new distribution deal you secured, all due to the savings from the lower FET, should be music to their ears. You can accomplish this communication directly by email or even sending a hard copy letter; or, you can work with your state guild to generate a broader message about the gains made throughout your home state. Both the ACSA State Guild Committee Chair, PT Wood (
pt@woodsdistillery.com), and the Legislative Committee Chair, Mark Shilling (
mark@shillingcrafted.com) would be thrilled to help you. You can also invite the officials and/or candidates to your distillery to witness first-hand the successes you have built. Seeing is believing and when the candidate of officeholder learns that a return to a $13.50 FET may jeopardize what you have just shown them, they will take that message back to their colleagues in Washington. Ask some of your suppliers to the event as well, as that will bolster the message about how far downstream the tax savings can go.
If either a candidate or existing officeholder accepts your invitation, please contact the ACSA-PAC Chair with the details and we can provide a check to support the official; that effort creates a lot of good will for all involved. Last, the ACSA’s Public Policy Conference, hosted with the Distilled Spirits Council, is scheduled for this July 22
nd to 24
th in Washington, D.C. This is a major event where members of the distilled spirits sector will meet with lawmakers and advocate in support of critically important issues. I encourage all of our members to participate in this event; for details, please contact Carason Lehmann at
carason@americancraftspirits.org.
If a member says, “I support X political party, but I understand that some of the PAC resources will go to support candidates on the opposing party.” What do you say to them so they get over any reservations they may have?
That’s a good question and one which we certainly have received. First of all, ACSA is the trade association for craft spirits producers and it is not affiliated with any political party. So, the PAC is otherwise agnostic to political leanings and works to supports candidates whose constituents could benefit from our legislative goals or those officials whose role in government put them in a position to support ACSA’s legislative goals. One thing to remember is that as an industry we were successful in lowering the FET because all members, from the smallest distillery with a tasting room and a single product, to the largest multinational supplier, were aligned in supporting this crucial legislative initiative. Putting politics aside, we all came together and succeeded. Let’s do that again for the remaining days of 2019 to lock in a better future for the entire distilling industry.
See you in Washington, D.C. this July.
