by TM Petaccia

NC Senate Bill 527, the ABC Omnibus 2023 bill, has unanimously passed the House Alcoholic Beverage Control Committee. This is first bill in a series of legislation to overhaul the state’s liquor laws, and the first be voted out of committee. The bill has moved to the Rules Committee, where it awaits further action.

The 39-page bill incorporates many of the items included in previous proposed legislation. When enacted, the bill, in part, will:

• Allow local ABC boards to allow store sales on Sundays, after 10 a.m. as well as on New Year’s Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day.
• Give bars and restaurants greater alcohol pricing flexibility, including designated “Happy Hours,” single-price promotions (e.g. “2 for 1”), and alcoholic beverages as part of a meal package — all subject to local board approval. “This is going to be a great boon to the restaurant industry and Charlotte overall,” says Built on Hospitality Beverage Director Bob Peters.  “This will allow us to have that five o’clock push which leads to more people being in the building, which leads to more people having appetizers and more people having dinner. That early evening push is sometimes missing from business.”
• Resume to-go and delivery sales of mixed beverages and wines by the glass (if purchased with a meal from a bar or restaurant) as allowed during the pandemic lockdown. “We’re seeing more and more takeout and delivery than we did pre-pandemic,” says Lynn Minges, president/CEO of N.C. Restaurant & Lodging Association, speaking on a recent episode of the WUNC Politics podcast. “It’s important we continue to be able to provide alcohol with those takeout and delivery orders.”
• Allow bars and restaurants to purchase spirits from any ABC board operating in the same county (no longer just an appointed store). “We have the technology to make this sort of thing seamless these days,” Peters says. “I appreciate the fact this is now moving past archaic needless stipulations.”
• Allow for transitional ABC permits for when a bar or restaurant is sold.
• 

  Built On Hospitality Beverage Director Bob Peters. Photo courtesy

  Permit bars and restaurants to cover mixed beverage stamps with clear adhesive to prevent them from falling off containers. Currently, establishments cannot place anything over the stamp, even to protect it. If a bottle doesn’t have a stamp, it must be discarded. The establishment can be fined or lose its license if a bottle is found without one. “I think it’s something that is a little silly that wasn’t acceptable,” Peters says. “If you’re wiping a bottle down with a damp rag, some of those older bottles (like rare bourbons), after months of being wiped down, those stickers just tend to start to fade, and sometimes they simply wipe off. It’s a protective measure.”

• Allow ABC stores to sell branded consumer specialty items, for example, “Jim Beam” logoed drinking glasses or keychains. ABC stores will also be permitted to sell empty barrels or barrel parts, provided the local board also purchased the spirits contained in the original barrel.
• Allow ABC stores to sell liquors below the distiller’s original price.
• Establish the creation of a Mobile Bar Services permit to allow bars, restaurants, and other permit holders to sell alcoholic beverages at offsite special and popup events.
• Reset minimum prices of spiritous liquors according to the size of the container.

The bill also creates the establishment of Distillery Estate Districts, defines how ABC employees can sample products in-store, adds two members to the state ABC Commission, and clarifies several existing statutes.

Although the bill eases some of the more restrictive alcohol laws in the state, Mingess envisions future laws that will make it easier for bars and restaurants.

“It might surprise people to know that a restaurateur has to physically go to a facility and put boxes of liquor in the trunk of their car, and drive it back to their restaurant,” she says. There is no delivery. You can get beer and wine delivered. You can get linens delivered, food, and everything else you use in a restaurant. So one day, maybe we’ll see that happen, centralized ordering and delivery of liquor.”