The Texas Wine & Grape Growers Association (TWGGA) is an active force in both state and federal legislation and regulation. Find out how you can get involved!

Legislative and regulatory advocacy on both the state and federal level for the Texas wine and grape industry starts with you, members of the commercial industry.  Reaching out to your elected officials and educating them and their staff members about the industry is as important as paying member dues in support of TWGGA’s operation each year.

In addition to helping elected officials understand grape and wine production, our key talking points are:

• Economic Impact: The wine industry contributes more than $20.35 billion of economic value to the State of Texas (according to the 2022 Texas Economic Impact Study Packet on American Wine Industry prepared by John Dunham & Associates).
• Urban/Rural Interest: Wine and grapes are agricultural products that create a common interest between rural and urban communities in Texas.
• Conservation: Grapes do not require excessive amounts of water, and often, vineyards use buried drip irrigation.

Identify your representatives and and begin building relationships with these key decision makers.

The 2022 economic study showed a $20.35 billion impact from wine and wine grapes on the Texas economy. With significant increases in the number of new Texas wineries and vineyards, the Texas wine and grape industry is poised to continue its growth pattern.

The U.S. Congress meets continually throughout the year with several scheduled breaks. In addition to participating with both WineAmerica and the Winegrape Growers of America to ensure the industry’s needs are met on the federal level, association staff and key volunteers travel to Washington DC several times each year to meet with staff and members of congress.

If you have an interest in participating in these trips or are planning a trip to Washington DC and would like help scheduling visits with your elected officials and their staff members, please contact TWGGA.

Sunset is the regular assessment of the continuing need for a state agency or program to exist. Sunset starts with the basic question: Do the agency’s functions continue to be needed? The Sunset process works by setting an automatic termination date on which an agency will be abolished unless a bill is passed to continue it.

The Texas Legislature meets every two years. The Association actively solicits feedback from the membership to develop an agenda prior to each session and the board of directors authorizes the Legislative Committee to manage the pursuit of that agenda during the session.

When making the phone calls do the following:

• Establish that you are a constituent and ask to speak with your elected official.
• Explain how you are involved in the Texas wine and grape industry (calls from loyal consumers are as important as calls from winemakers and grape growers).
• Relate information on the talking points document.
• Talk about how each agenda item will impact your business.
• Offer to email the talking points for their file.

In order for the Legislative Committee to stay up to date on how extensively our message has been broadcast, following your phone calls, please contact TWGGA at office@twgga.org with follow-up information.