A Georgia House panel backed legislation Monday that would allow restaurants to send cocktails home with takeout meals to help an industry devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The measure now heads for a final vote in the full chamber.
Senate Bill 236, sponsored by Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan, would allow restaurants to sell two take-away cocktails per entree in sealed containers.
If the drinks are taken away by car, the bill says they would have to be put in a glove compartment, trunk or the back of the vehicle. Opponents said that provision would be hard to enforce.
Karen Bremer, president of the Georgia Restaurant Association, said that 3,800 restaurants in the state have closed and 100,000 employees are out of work because of the pandemic. She said the industry took a $5 billion hit in 2020 as COVID-19 kept diners from going out to eat, and restaurants that stayed open limited capacity to potentially reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
Cocktails offer the highest profit margins for restaurants that sell them, she said at a recent hearing.
In June, lawmakers approved home delivery of beer, wine and liquor, although many stores still don’t offer the service. Some restaurants were already selling to-go alcoholic beverages, but many local ordinances prohibited it.
Currently, more than 30 states plus the District of Columbia allow restaurants and/or bars to sell cocktails to go, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.
Georgia restaurants can already sell unopened beer or wine to go.
Mike Griffin, longtime lobbyist for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, told the House Regulated Industries Committee on Monday that greater alcohol availability would lead to greater consumption and more problems. “This is about money,” he said.
A proposed amendment to cut the number of drinks that could be sold per meal failed to pass.
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