Texas House hears testimony on canned-cocktail bill
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You might be able to buy these at a grocery store soon. Photo: Courtesy of Cormac West
The Texas House heard testimony this week on a bill that would allow grocery stores and convenience stores to sell canned liquor-based cocktails.
Why it matters: If passed, the new law would treat ready-to-drink canned cocktails with alcohol content up to 17%, the same as beer and wine.
The big picture: Most of the testimony at the House Licensing & Administrative Procedures Committee was in favor of House Bill 2200, authored by Rep. Justin Holland, a Republican from Rockwall.
- Several witnesses pointed out that grocery stores and gas stations are already allowed to sell beer, wine and malt-based hard seltzer that contain more alcohol than most ready-to-drink cocktails.
State of play: Current law allows retailers to sell beer, wine and alcoholic seltzer drinks every day.
- Yes, but: Liquor and pre-packaged cocktails can only be sold Monday through Saturday until 9pm — and only from licensed liquor stores.
What they're saying: Dale Szyndrowski, a lobbyist for the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, called current restrictions on canned cocktails "anti-free market" and "anti-Texas values."
- "Remember, alcohol is alcohol," Szyndrowski testified. “It makes no difference if it's made from fermented sugar, malted barley, wine or grain spirits."
The other side: Opposition to the bill, predominantly from liquor-store organizations and beer wholesalers, focuses on the fact that grocery stores often employ teenagers, and the idea that the new law could change the state's long-standing prohibition of liquor sales on Sunday.
- "There's no great consumer demand to make this drastic change to Texas liquor law, which currently allows hard liquor products to be sold in package stores by trained personnel 21 and older," Tom Spilman, president of the Wholesale Beer Distributors of Texas, tells Axios.