A new bill could increase the alcohol limit of beers sold in Mississippi from 5 percent to 8 percent.
Representative David Baria has authored House Bill 26 for the past five years.  He said if the bill passes, it would be beneficial by providing more choices to consumers.
“There’s close to 300 beers you can’t get in the state,” he said.  “This would improve the selection and give people a lot more to choose from.”
A bill like this could be putting Mississippi in an even playing field with the other states. Baria said Mississippi currently has the lowest limit on alcohol in the country.
He said the bill would also benefit retailers, and since writing the bill, he has discovered its passage would also help breweries.
“These beers with higher alcohol content are more expensive, which leads to greater profit,” he said. “I have also discovered since writing the bill that Lazy Magnolia Brewery in Mississippi has to turn away business because of the current limit.”
Lazy Magnolia Brewery, in Kiln, is the only packaging brewery in the state.
Mark Henderson, an owner of Lazy Magnolia, said their brewery supports any legislation that would support culture related to beer.
He said when it comes to the passage of this particular bill, the numbers speak for themselves.
“It would generate an immediate economic impact,” he said. “The 5 percent limit cuts out 30 percent of our existing business.”
Henderson said the increased business would create even more positions for employment at Lazy Magnolia.
“If passed, the bill would also add an additional seven jobs at the brewery,” he said.
According to Henderson, an increased limit on alcohol would also make a difference in the vitality of the beer.
“Beer has a very short shelf life,” Henderson said.  “However, like wine, beers with higher alcohol content have a much longer shelf life, which would be especially helpful when sales are slower.”
The bill has also raised some concerns over the already prevalent amount of alcohol-related crimes and accidents.
According to the website for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every day almost 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 48 minutes.
Lauren Craig, junior psychology major at MSU, said this is a problem she has seen all too often amongst her peers.
“It’s not difficult to find someone who has been directly affected by alcohol in some negative way,” she said.
Craig said she is concerned making a 3 percent jump could be dangerous to those who are already used to only a 5 percent cap.
“People become accustomed to a 5 percent limit on beer, but when you raise that, they can become intoxicated much quicker without ever realizing it,” she said.
The bill is currently in a ways and means subcommittee.
Representative Hank Zuber, chairman of the subcommittee, said his committee will be examining the bill over the next couple of weeks.
“We’ll consider it, study it and weigh its pros and cons,” he said.  “We’ll see if it makes good sense for public policy, and, if it does, we’ll pass it.”
If the bill passes from the subcommittee, it will continue on to the full ways and means committee. If the ways and means committee passes it, the bill will go from there to the Senate.
He said the bill has the potential to make positive changes for the state.
“If it has any impact on the state of Mississippi, it would be in the form of possibly increasing tax revenue just because these craft beers with higher alcohol content are more expensive,” Zuber said.  “The main impact would be to provide consumers more choice.”