Slow, clumsy, lurching from side to side, it staggers
drunkenly much of the time. Tending towards torpor, it must be pushed,
prodded and pulled constantly or it will fall over, bleating and
helplessly kicking its legs. It’s a bloated beast that must be
continuously fed and cared for. Too big to kill, it’s kept alive because
we need it, warts and all.
Taking care of Government can be a real mess.
Colorado House Representative Larry Liston, a Republican from Colorado
Springs, knows what a mess it can be. He lives in the belly of the beast.
He was the lead caretaker of House Bill 1186, which would have permitted
convenience stores of less than 5000 square feet in size to sell full
strength beer, instead of 3.2 beer currently permitted in their stores.
Liston co-wrote the bill with five other legislators and members of the
Colorado Wyoming Petroleum Marketers Association.
Yesterday, in an 8-3 vote, the Colorado State House Finance Committee
killed HB 1186. The measure, which had already been approved by another
committee, would have permitted convenience stores to sell “full strength”
beer instead of 3.2 beer. Liston had hoped his protectionist bill would benefit in-store
sales for convenience store owners, who he said had been hurt since July
2008, when Sunday liquor store sales were permitted in Colorado.
Liquor store owners and craft brewers lined up against HB 1186. Left Hand
Brewing owner Eric Wallace said the main concern is and always has been
access to the market. Liquor store retailers can and do cater to a wide
marketplace, and sell Colorado craft beer in abundance. Brewers contend
that convenience stores would push their offerings off the shelves in
favor of the Big Three, and thus be excluded from the marketplace.
Following the vote, Liston shared little love for liquor store owners and
the Colorado Licensed Beverage Association. “They say, no, no, no, no, no.
They will never compromise, because they have a monopoly, and they will
keep it till Hell freezes over.”
A Cold Day Indeed.
Committee member Ellen Roberts likened the process to being “a lab rat in
a maze”, and characterized the proposed bill as a multitude of “layers of
government interference in business, in this case retail liquor stores.”
She voted against the measure.
Just before the final vote, Chairman Joel Judd tried to sum it all up from
the Finance Committee perspective. “It’s tough out there, and this bill
won’t change it very much. But it brings the state a little bit of
revenue.” He suggested sending the bill along for the Appropriations
committee to consider, but decided to let the buck stop there with his
Committee. He sided with the convenience stores in voting yes.
At one point, Representative Daniel Kagan wondered aloud, “Why is there a
need for this bill?"
Liquor Enforcement Division Director Laura Harris was on hand to answer,
and points out some of the finer points of liquor regulation that were not
directly addressed in HB1186. She testified that while retail liquor store
owners may have one and only one license to sell alcohol, 3.2 licensees
enjoy the opportunity to have multiple kinds of licenses. A corporate
entity may also own multiple 3.2 licenses - “as many as you like”, according to Harris. Under
HB1186, “Multiple malt liquor licenses would also be permitted. But it
does not change the restriction of Retail Liquor Store licensees,” who
would still be limited to one store.
Thank You Very Much. I’ll take two dozen.
Representative Liston, who said “I don’t drink beer, by the way,” lamented
that this was another missed opportunity for legislators to act, when
instead they opted to “kick the can down the road again.” He also
expressed dismay with the craft brewers. “I frankly don’t understand where
they’re coming from.”
Of course, it’s not over. There’s HB 1279, being pushed hard by the
grocery store interests. It will allow grocery stores to sell beer and
wine, or buy liquor licenses from individual retail liquor store owners
within 1000 feet of the grocer. It’s a real messy piece of legislation
that tries to play nice with everybody and winds up making the regulations
even more confusing and convoluted.
If this piece of legislation doesn’t work out in favor of the grocery
store special interest, then along comes Blake Harrison, a Denver lawyer
and candidate for the State House. He’s threatened to unleash an even
uglier initiative upon the voters, and get them to decide how beer gets
sold in Colorado. Now there’s some sound logic: Let’s allow voters to
decide how liquor laws get re-written. Representative Liston is not
optimistic: “The initiative will be a mess. We have to clean up the mess.”
Like we said, dealing with the beast can get ugly.
Stay tuned for more information on these issues that could kill craft beer
in Colorado as we know it.
Your tax dollars at work. Rep. Larry Liston (right) discusses convienence store
sales statistics with the committee while Bill Gallagher with the
Colorado Wyoming Petroleum Marketing Association looks on.
