The bill has several provisions dealing with liquor laws, but the one that generated a brouhaha was about how beer must be distributed.

Currently, craft brewers enjoy an exception to the state’s three-tier system of liquor distribution that requires alcohol to be shipped from a manufacturer, to a distributor and then to a retail location, like a bar or liquor store.

Right now, as long as craft beers are delivered by a distributor’s truck, it can then be delivered directly to a retail customer.

Under LB 632 as originally written, the exception would have gone away, and brewers would be forced to ship their beer to a distributor first where it would sit “at rest” and be taxed before being delivered.

The craft brewers called that provision a “job killer” because it would add hundreds of miles, precious time and more expense to the task of delivering their products.

Beer distributors argued that it was unfair, and in violation of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, to treat in-state breweries differently than out-of-state beer producers.