March Momentum for More Permissive Alcohol Beverage Sales
by: Heather Nolan
The first quarter of 2024 has seen momentum across states to be more permissive for certain categories of alcohol beverage sales. These changes, to a varying extent, could benefit the three tiers of the alcohol beverage industry: producers, wholesalers, and retailers. Here’s a summary of what’s on the move so far this year:
To-Go Cocktails:
This month, Indiana passed HB 1086 to become the 25th state to pass a law legalizing the “permanent” purchase of to-go cocktails. State momentum for these laws began during the COVID pandemic and continues to see legal traction. Indiana’s law - and the law of 24 other states as well as D.C. - is “permanent” in that there is no expiration date for the legality of to-go cocktail purchases. 8 states passed temporary laws which have specified expiration dates ranging as early as this April 1 (in Massachusetts) until as late as 2028 in Illinois.
Virginia’s legislative branches passed companion bills House Bill 688 and Senate Bill 635 that would permanently allow to-go cocktails and pre-mixed win beverages to be sold from bars, restaurants, and distilleries to be consumed off-premises, as well as allow alcohol delivery. The bills now head to the governor for approval.
Seven-Day Spirit Sales:
Six states still have so-called “blue laws” on the books that restrict or ban at the state level retail sales of distilled spirits on Sundays and sometimes certain holidays, but three states have active bills to change that.
On March 1st, Mississippi House legislators passed bill HB 329 to make spirit sales legal all seven days of the week. The bill will now be considered by the Senate.
North Carolina Senate passed a similar bill (SB 527) that would allow seven-day spirit sales, as well as holiday sales. The bill includes a number of other provisions expanding certain aspects of alcohol sales, including reinstating cocktails to-go and delivery of mixed beverages from restaurants, bars, and distilleries and lowering the tax rate for some spirits and ready-to-drink cocktails, which is the fastest growing category in alcohol beverage sales.
South Carolina House has given key approval to bill H. 4231 allowing liquor stores to stay open on Sundays for a few hours if their local governments allow it. The bill will face one more routine approval vote before it heads to the Senate. It would join another bill that would allow customers to pick up alcohol when they get their groceries or food order brought out to them in the parking lot.
If these bills pass, the only remaining states with blue laws related to alcohol would be Alabama, Texas, and Utah.
Ready to Drink Cocktails:
As mentioned above, ready-to-drink cocktails is a booming business and several more states have made moves thus far in 2024 to make them more available.
This month, Alabama SB 259 was introduced and would expand the types and number of stores where consumers could purchase pre-mixed distilled spirit beverages. This bill is currently pending committee consideration.
Bills in California (SB 277) and Pennsylvania (SB 688) would allow ready-to-drink spirit-based beverages to be sold in grocery and convenience stores. The bills had momentum in 2023 – the California bill passed unanimously in the Senate - and there are some industry groups working to move these efforts forward.
For questions on alcohol beverage trade practices, laws, and regulations, please contact Heather Nolan or Tatyana Ruderman
Originally published by InfoLawGroup LLP. If you would like to receive regular emails from us, in which we share updates and our take on current legal news, please subscribe to InfoLawGroup’s Insights HERE.