HB445 Summary

• Requires wine suppliers (manufacturers and importers) to designate exclusive sales territories and enter into written franchise agreements with wholesalers for each territory.

• Prohibits suppliers from fixing wholesale prices, coercing wholesalers, requiring exclusive brand representation, demanding financial records, or retaliating against wholesalers who file complaints.

• Establishes supplier obligations for agreement amendments, terminations, and nonrenewals, requiring 60 days' written notice citing good cause, with limited exceptions for insolvency, license revocation, or felony convictions.

• Protects wholesaler business transfers to designated family members without supplier approval and requires suppliers to act in good faith when evaluating non-family transferees using nondiscriminatory standards.

• Creates civil remedies for violations including actual damages, court costs, attorney fees, and punitive damages for bad faith actions; applies retroactively to agreements existing as of December 31, 2019; effective August 1, 2020.