TACOMA —To-go cocktails, curbside beer pickup and alcohol delivery will stick around in Washington for two more years under a bill signed by Gov. Jay Inslee.
The law, brought to the Legislature by the Liquor and Cannabis Board and passed with bipartisan support, makes semi-permanent what was a temporary rule change to boost bars and restaurants during the early days of the pandemic, when they relied solely on takeout.
Under House Bill 1480, restaurants that hold a spirits, beer and wine license can sell cocktails in sealed containers for takeaway, including curbside pickup and delivery. They also can sell cocktail kits with 50-milliliter “minis” and wine by the glass. For delivery, a recipient 21 or older must sign for it.
Breweries, wineries and distilleries also can continue to offer curbside pickup and delivery of their retail packaged goods including growlers, something they couldn’t do before the pandemic.
These permissions extend to caterers, snack bars and nonprofit arts businesses that hold liquor licenses.
Originally brought to the House floor in late January, various iterations of the bill proposed ending the allowance a year earlier.
The allowance is not automatic, as license holders must apply for an endorsement through the liquor board. About half of them will want this privilege, according to the legislature’s fiscal report.
Starting in January 2022, the liquor board must enlist an outside entity to study the effects of to-go alcohol, such as its impact on underage drinking and alcohol-related health or traffic incidents. Depending on that data, agency communications director Brian Smith said it’s possible the legislature would pursue a more permanent statute.
Bill sponsor Rep. Drew MacEwen of Union said that for how progressive Washington is as a state, it’s conservative when it comes to governance of alcohol. Nobody wants to see society become more dangerous, he said, but he hopes the study shows that businesses and consumers will act responsibly.
Perhaps to assuage those fears, the bill excludes one element of LCB’s pandemic allowances.
As bars and restaurants closed in initial lockdown measures last spring, the agency moved quickly to assist the industry by temporarily allowing to-go retail sales of liquor bottles with a meal purchase. Countless eateries jumped at the chance, creating, for instance, margarita kits with fresh-squeezed bottles of juice sold with a full 750-milliliter bottle of tequila.
HB 1480 supersedes that rule, Smith said. Establishments can continue to sell batched cocktails to-go, as in one container that holds enough to make four drinks at home.
“When it comes to our issues, there are always going to be people on either side,” he said. While those educating against drunk driving and some law enforcement members are among those “not in favor of expanding alcohol availability, there are others that thought this bill was a good step.”
