BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Research Center S.C.R. 19
By: Madla, Estes
AUTHOR'S/SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
In recognition of both the direct and indirect revenues that could be generated for the state by a robust wine industry, Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst charged the Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations of the 78th Legislature to study and make recommendations relating to the development of the Texas wine producing industry; assess the impact of state and federal laws on the shipment and delivery of wine; and make recommendations for increasing the economic impact of the wine producing industry in Texas;
The Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations found that Texas has all the elements necessary to be a competitive force in the national and international wine industries; the Texas wine producing industry could prove to be a stellar economic generator for the state of Texas; with the proper policies in place, the Texas wine producing industry is positioned to boom within the next five to ten years; although progress has been made throughout the years, insufficient funding and budget reductions for new and existing education, training, and research hinder the development of the industry; and the lack of a consistent, coordinated, and centralized effort among industry stakeholders and public policy makers to develop appropriate programs and policies; explore, develop and access relevant funding streams; and communicate concerns and needs to appropriate parties impedes the development of this industry to its full potential;
It is difficult to compete successfully in a market if there is no clear picture of the status of the competition and although there is a great deal of data available regarding wine industries throughout the United States, there are also great inconsistencies in what data is collected, how it is collected and compiled, what resources are used, what standards are used, what time frames are employed, and in what form the data is published.
An annual posting of comparable data from those states in closest competition with Texas should prove to be a valuable tool to our wine industry.
RESOLVED
That the 79th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby respectfully request the Texas Wine Marketing Research Institute at Texas Tech University to include in its data collection and reporting, as funding and information resources allow, a basic comparison of the economic impacts of the Texas, California, New York, Washington, Oregon, North Carolina, Virginia, and other closely competitive wine industries. The data to be compared should be published annually and include certain specified information for each state.