HB544 Summary

• Creates the Madison County Wine Franchise Jobs Protection Act to regulate business relations between wine suppliers and wholesalers in Madison County and establish a 3-tier distribution system.

• Requires written agreements between suppliers and wholesalers designating exclusive sales territories; prohibits suppliers from price-fixing, coercing wholesalers, requiring tied purchases, or taking retaliatory actions.

• Mandates 60 days' notice before suppliers can amend, modify, terminate, or refuse to renew agreements; requires good cause and provides wholesalers 30 days to cure noncompliance.

• Allows transfers of wholesaler businesses to designated family members without supplier approval, but restricts transfers to others unless proposed transferees meet nondiscriminatory, material, and reasonable qualifications; provides voluntary arbitration for compensation disputes.

• Establishes civil remedies including actual damages, court costs, attorney fees, and punitive damages for violations; lawsuits must be filed in Madison County Circuit Court or U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.