AUSTIN (March 12, 2013)—The Texas Senate Business and Commerce Committee Tuesday sent a compromise proposal to overhaul the way beer is sold in Texas to the full Senate.

Small brewers led by Freetail of San Antonio and St. Arnold's of Houston have been campaigning to expand their markets, arguing that current laws unfairly favor out-of-state breweries.

The fight split the state's distributors, who have long held sway with lawmakers.

State Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, raised the stakes by introducing a separate bill that would overhaul the whole industry's pricing structure, but the committee approved a more modest version.

Carona did add an amendment tying the entire legislative package together for the votes still to come, however.