Few state laws have shaped Portland's economy and culture like Senate Bill 813, otherwise known as the Brewpub Bill.
The law, which was passed 30 years ago today and signed into law by Vic Atiyeh, Oregon's last Republican governor, effectively created the state's craft beer industry as we know it. "The Brewpub Bill brought craft beer out of the closet," McMenamins co-founder Mike McMenamin says. "Once we had it, the whole idea of dark, dingy taverns started to slowly disappear. It got families in there and just opened things up."
http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-24889-premise_accepted.html
