The NBWA: a PAC that protects!

There is a plethora of groups, organizations, committees, and associations that try to influence the political scene. The main pursuit of a Political Action Committees (PAC), as defined by the Merriam-Webster encyclopedia is “to raise and contribute money to the campaigns of candidates likely to advance the group’s interests” (1). One of the many PACs that exist is the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA). This is an organization focused on the twenty-first Amendment. The twenty-first Amendment repealed the eighteenth amendment which stated, “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.” (2)

Right from the start, it would seem like a group called the National Beer Wholesalers Association would revolve around changing such legislation as the legal drinking age (lowering it for their personal gain), changing the acceptable level of intoxication while driving. However, the NBWA actually states in its mission statement, “The purpose of the National Beer Wholesalers Association is to…advocate before government and the public; [and] to encourage the responsible consumption of alcohol” (3). The eighteenth amendment gives the duty of alcohol regulation primarily to the state government, as opposed to the federal. NBWA representatives attend legislative conferences in Washington, DC, including one coming up on the 27-30^th of this March, in support of the preservation of this already established legislation. (4)

The NBWA does more than simply attend congressional meetings. In order to be a PAC, an association must raise and donate funds to politicians and their campaigns. In preparation for elections in 2010, the NBWA donated $1,490,500 to House Democrats, $1,171,000 to House Republicans, $182,500 to Democrats in the Senate, and $152,000 to Republicans in the Senate. (5) This money didn't just come from nowhere; "Individual donors gave 1721 large ($200+) contributions to this PAC in 2009-2010." (6) Many of these donors gave the legal, annual limit of $5,000. (7)

While the NBWA hasn't greatly contributed to the changing of any major, specific legislation, the NBWA, through the 2,850+ independent, and licensed beer distributors whom it represents (3) has proven a powerful supporter behind the twenty-first amendment. Through attending the afore mentioned legislative conferences, NBWA members represent all the beer distributors and companies across America.

The National Beer Wholesalers Association may sound (especially to active LDS Church members) like an association pulling for looser restrictions on alcoholic beverages, however, we have discovered that this is not their aim. The NBWA acts as any other PAC does; it raises and donates money to support candidates who support its cause of defending the twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution.

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