It's no surprise alcohol laws in this state are in desperate need of some updating, if not complete overhaul. And while a state task force has been teased for quite some time to tackle just that, details have been scarce until now.
State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg has given carte blanche to a group of seven legal and political figures, reports the Globe's Dan Adams, who will meet for the first time later this month to lay out an agenda that will be limited only by their imaginations.
“We have a law that has not modernized to embrace the reality of what alcoholic beverage businesses look like today,” Goldberg told Adams. “We have to be able to step back and rewrite.”
Goldberg oversees the state's Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, a woefully underfunded organization that's been at the center of several major flaps of late, including a pay-to-play investigation that brought record fines to myriad offenders; Nashoba Valley Winery being told by regulators it can't serve its own wines in its Bolton restaurant; and a highly public discourse regarding Franchise Laws and the constraints they put on local breweries.
Several major issues appear to be on the table for the task force to tackle first. Reports Adams:
- Extending the hours for package stores
- Lifting caps on liquor licenses in each municipality
- Allowing beer-makers to switch distributors more easily
- Loosening restrictions on consumers bringing alcohol to restaurants or reusing growlers
- Boosting funding to the chronically understaffed Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission
- Clarifying rules about so-called pay-to-play incentives
Some members of the group have been appointed, including former mayor of Fitchburg Lisa Wong; Kate Cook, a former chief legal counsel to then-governor Deval Patrick; Rachel Rollins, former chief legal counsel to the Massachusetts Port Authority; state representative John Fernandes; and Peter Wilson, the press secretary to Senate President Stanley C. Rosenberg.
Goldberg and Governor Charlie Baker also get a yet-to-be-named appointee each.
Some breweries, distributors, bars and restaurants are nervous the new rules could dent their bottom lines. Many of the groups recommendations would require approval from the Massachusetts Legislature before taking effect.
“We’re not starry-eyed,” Goldberg added. “We know we won’t be able to get everyone to agree . . . but if we never try, we’ll never get beyond 1933.”
Image via flickr.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story called the booze moves a "crackdown" in the headline. Really, they're more of a "shake-up."
