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Contact Legislators
The campaign would be nothing without the support of our two legislative sponsors, Sen. Bill Ketron and Rep. Randy Rinks. We encourage you to send them an e-mail thanking them for sponsoring the legislation.
Legislators rightly pay the most attention to their own constituents. To identify your senator and representatives you can:
- Look on the back of your voter registration card to find your state House and state Senate districts. Members of the legislature are listed by district at www.legislature.state.tn.us. Search under “Senate” or “House.”
- Go to www.votesmart.org. By entering your nine-digit ZIP code, you can find your local elected officials.
When expressing support, be sure to do so in a courteous and professional manner.
Two committees – one in the Senate and one in the House – are critical to the success of the legislation. We encourage you to contact members of the committees and voice your support.
We recommend that you write personal letters and e-mails to legislators. Form letters do not have the impact of personal communications. Make sure that any communications include your first name, last name, and address.
Here are some suggested elements to include:
- Ask the legislator to support SB3139/HB3451.
- Tennesseans who drink wine want the choice and convenience of purchasing it in retail food stores.
- Retail food stores should have the choice of selling wine if their customers want it.
- Thirty-three other states allow wine sales in retail food stores.
- Retail food stores will apply the same Responsible Vendor Law standards to wine sales that they do to beer sales.
- There is no proven connection between wine sales in retail food stores and increased drunk driving, increased underage drinking, or impact on reputable liquor stores.
You may also want to include additional information that you can find in the Wine Facts section of the Web site.
If you don’t feel comfortable writing a personal letter, you can use the following content to help you get started.
The Hon. (Legislator name),
I am writing asking you to support SB3139/HB3451 (sales of wine by certain retail food stores).
Consumers who choose to drink wine should have both the choice and convenience of purchasing it in retail food stores. Thirty-three other states allow the sale of wine in retail food stores. Extensive research has found no link between wine sales in retail food stores and increased drunk driving, access to alcohol for underage drinkers, or economic hardship for reputable liquor stores.
Retail food stores are already subject to the Responsible Vendor Law. They will extend the same criteria, including training and annual reviews, to wine sales.
Tennesseans who choose to drink wine want wine sales in retail food stores. I hope that you will support them by supporting this legislation.
[INSERT NAME & ADDRESS]
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