Bill to allow permanent sale of cocktails to-go passes Michigan Senate

A look at the Boardroom Smash cocktail available at The Boardroom in the SVRC building located at 203 S. Washington Ave. on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022 in Saginaw. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)
  • 170 shares

The Michigan Senate recently passed a bill to make cocktails to-go a permanent menu item for restaurants and bars around the state.

Senate Bill 1163, sponsored by Sen. Curtis Hertel, D-East Lansing, would nix the current expiration date on a previous law allowing qualified businesses to sell alcoholic beverages off premises. Without the passage of the Senate bill, the law expires at the end of 2025.

During a September Senate Regulatory Reform committee meeting, Sydney Hart, Hertel’s policy director, stated that by removing the sunset date, Michigan would simply be following a national trend.

Eighteen states and Washington, D.C. have allowed bars and restaurants to sell cocktails in take-home containers after in-person dining closed down due to COVID-19, according to Hart. Several cities in Michigan and around the country also allow for outdoor drinking districts.

“Alcohol to-go was a creative solution to keep these businesses afloat,” Hart said.

Whitmer signed House Bill 5811 in July 2020, during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

There were certain stipulations tacked onto the legislation, like requiring businesses to continue to follow all state laws, signify on the drinking container that it contains alcohol and can only be delivered to a person above 21 years old and verify the customer is of drinking age.

Mike Tobias of Michigan Alcohol Policy Promoting Health and Safety submitted written testimony to the committee in opposition of the bill. He cited concerns such as an increase in youth access to alcohol, improperly sealed alcohol containers and additional strain on law enforcement.

“At this time there is no good reason to eliminate the sunset on cocktails to-go,” he wrote. “Bars and restaurants can still serve alcohol to-go at this time and no action is necessary.”

The sunset date was put into place in the initial legislation so that there would be time to evaluate the community impact of allowing alcohol to be taken out of restaurants and bars.

In response to safety concerns raised by committee members at the September Regulatory Reform meeting, John McNamara with the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association said he wasn’t aware of any issues caused by cocktails to-go.

“It’s just another tool in the toolbox for restauranteurs as they continue to climb out of the pandemic,” McNamara said.

The bill now awaits a hearing in the House committee on Regulatory Reform. It will have to pass the House and be signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer before becoming law.

Read more from MLive:

Outdoor recreation grows into $10B industry in Michigan

‘Our agenda advocates for all Michiganders’: Meet the leaders of the 102nd legislature

Ohio must put Lake Erie on ‘pollution diet’ under settlement terms

See how credit card interest rates have changed from 1985 to 2022

Michigan fish will have more room to swim with removal of 27 dams

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

X

Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information

If you opt out, we won’t sell or share your personal information to inform the ads you see. You may still see interest-based ads if your information is sold or shared by other companies or was sold or shared previously.