By:  Madla, Estes                                               S.C.R. No. 19 



SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, In recognition of both the direct and indirect 
revenues that could be generated for the state by a robust wine 
industry, Lt. Governor Dewhurst charged the Senate Committee on 
Intergovernmental Relations Committee 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; and
	WHEREAS, 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 5 to 10 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;
	WHEREAS, It is difficult to compete successfully in a market 
if there is no clear picture of the status of the competition; and
	WHEREAS, 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; and
	WHEREAS, 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; now, therefore be it
	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 State, Oregon, North Carolina, 
Virginia, and other closely competitive wine industries.  The data 
to be compared should be published annually and include for each 
state:
	1)  the number of wineries permitted by the U.S. Alcohol and 
Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureaus (TTB);
	2)  the amount of wine produced, as reported to the TTB;                       
	3)  total wine sales;                                                          
	4)  excise, sales and franchise taxes paid;                                    
	5)  the number of wine grape-growers;                                          
	6)  total wine grape acreage;                                                  
	7)  grape production as reported by the USDA;                                  
	8)  the value of the wine grapes grown;                                        
	9)  the number of Full-time Equivalent wine industry jobs;                     
	10)  total wages paid;                                                         
	11)  revenues from wine-related tourism;                                       
	12)  the estimated number of visitors;                                         
	13)  charitable contributions made;                                            
	14)  total economic impact; and                                                
	15)  any other information that would prove valuable to the 
Texas wine industry.