Stanford GSB
Friday, January 29, 2016
Quirky State Alcohol Laws
Monday's class got me thinking about the varied, and often quirky, wine and alcohol laws by state.
Below is a list of a few more quirky state-specific alcohol laws that demonstrate the complexity of alcohol sale and distribution across the United States. Being from Massachusetts, a state with historically some of the strictest alcohol laws in the country (no happy hour! no wine at grocery stores!), I was particularly interested in this topic. Growing up, I remember my mom's frustration at not being able to pick up wine from the "packy" before Sunday dinner. The examples below go to show how the loudest and most organized voices can dictate legislation.
Maine: Alcohol can only be purchased after 9am on Sundays - unless that day is St. Patrick's Day. On a St. Patrick's Day Sunday, alcohol beverages can be purchased as early as 6am. How did this odd law come to be? Owners of Irish pubs fought for a change in the Maine state law so they could serve alcohol for three extra hours on their busiest sales day of the year. Governor LePage signed this exception into law in 2013, when the holiday happened to fall on a Sunday. The next time St. Patrick's day is on Sunday will be in 2019.
Texas: Publicly-held companies with greater than 35 employees are not allowed to sell liquor, as of a law enacted in the mid-90s. Wal-Mart is currently suing the state of Texas, claiming that the law is protectionist and that it is unconstitutional under the commerce clause.
Indiana: In Indiana, grocery and convenience stores are not allowed to carry cold beer. This right is reserved for liquor stores only. An appeals court recently upheld this state law.
http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/incode/71/5/10/7.1-5-10-11
http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2015/12/15/grocery-convenience-stores-cant-sell-cold-beer-indiana-appeals-court-says/77361550/
http://consumerist.com/2016/01/27/8-states-with-the-strangest-laws-for-buying-alcohol/
http://bangordailynews.com/2013/03/14/politics/bill-to-allow-early-st-patricks-day-drink-awaits-lepages-signature/
http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2015/02/wal-mart-sues-the-state-of-texas-over-its-liquor-sale-law.html/
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I'm from Indiana, and this law has become part of a huge fight between big box stores and liquor stores. Indiana also has laws restricting the sale of alcohol on Sundays. Liquor stores see this law as beneficial, since they can reduce their overhead while theoretically selling a week's worth of alcohol in 6 days. Big box stores hate the law, since they bring in a steady stream of shoppers each day and would like to convert some of this traffic into alcohol sales. As a result, the cold beer law has become a bit of a bargaining chip. Liquor stores were willing to give up the cold beer exclusivity in exchange for a strict maintenance of the ban on Sunday alcohol sales. After a prolonged fight in the Indiana state legislature, nothing actually changed! Beer is still sold cold only in liquor stores, and no sales on Sunday.
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