Update on strong beer petition effort
On Friday, I promised more details on an upcoming petition drive to have strong beer and liquor introduced in the state’s grocery and convenience stores. Here’s the story, courtesy of the Tulsa World:
(Side note: The group Oklahomans for Modern Laws says they plan to spend up to $450,000 on the petition drive process. They obviously have not spent any of that money on their website — www.okmodernlaws.com.)
A group seeking to legalize wine and strong beer sales in Oklahoma’s grocery and convenience stores plans to begin the initiative petition process as soon as (this) week.
Oklahomans for Modern Laws will file its petition with the secretary of state, which starts a process that the group hopes will lead to a statewide vote on the issue in November.
Currently, state law restricts retail sales of wine and beer of more than 3.2 percent alcohol by weight to liquor stores.
Changing the law will help improve the state’s image, attract major retailers to the Oklahoma market and give consumers more choices about where they spend their money, said Brian Howe, spokesman for the group.
After the petition is filed with the secretary of state and goes through a formal publication process, opponents will have 10 days to challenge the legality of the petition’s language before the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
One key technical question is whether the group will be able to change the retail alcohol laws with only one petition and one state question, Howe said.
The group’s initial effort will attempt to do so, but opponents are likely to say it violates the state Constitution’s requirement that state questions only deal with one issue.
If the Supreme Court rules that the issue can’t be dealt with in a single petition, the group will come back with a multiquestion effort, Howe said.
If the issue clears the Supreme Court, the group will have 90 days to collect more than 155,000 Oklahoma voter signatures.
Howe said the group hopes to have petitions in the hands of professional petition-passers by spring with a goal of gathering 200,000 signatures to give the effort some cushion. After signed petitions are returned to the Secretary of State’s Office, opponents will have another opportunity to challenge the effort on the basis of an insufficient number of signatures.
The group plans to spend $300,000 to $450,000 on the petition-passing campaign and is relying on financial contributions from retailers to pay for the effort, Howe said.
J.P. Richard, president of the Retail Liquor Association of Oklahoma and owner of a Lawton liquor store, said his group is ready to fight any effort to take wine and strong beer sales away from liquor stores.
He said the state’s system for selling wine and strong beer works as it is and doesn’t need alteration.
“This industry has been here for 50 years and it’s not broken,” he said.
Richard said the petition process actually cost closer to a million dollars, and he is suspicious of the financing of the campaign.
“Who’s behind this thing?” Richard asked. “Follow the money. The money tells all.”
Mike Thornbrugh, spokes-man for QuikTrip, Oklahoma’s largest convenience store chain, said the company will have to look at the petition when it is filed to see if it can support it.
The company wants to end the state’s dual-strength beer system and get wine into the retail setting but won’t be willing to support an effort if it changes retail hours and days of operation, the right to sell refrigerated beer or rules on hiring clerks younger than 21 to match state laws that apply to liquor stores, he said.
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Comments
Charlie- Visit other states and you will indeed find excellent craft and rare beer selections in chain stores. It may not be every grocery store or gas station, but they are certainly there. The run of the mill Tom Thumb or Albertsons in DFW has a good selection of craft beer and wine. Go to Central Market or Whole Foods and you will find an exceptional offering. Heck my gas station of choice when I lived in Waco sold Oscar Blues, DogFish Head, Stone, Victory, etc.
I’m sure some will show up in the stores, my thought is but what is the point? In other words the same offering at the local Whole Foods or Quick Tripp would be the same selection that any liquor store can get now.
Much of the Craft beer issue is that of production, many breweries are pulling back and serving the home market and getting out of states that are their lower selling states. Avery for example did that here and in other places, Dogfish has no plans of expanding to Oklahoma. While I get it, and I’ll buy from them if it passes I just don’t see the point.
I’d really like to see the following in our stores:
- cold storage in liquor stores
- open Sunday (if they want to be)
- remove the 21 yr old entry restriction, this will have to be addressed if we allow it in retail stores. It’s silly that you can’t take a child in a liquor store, it’s not like they are selling graphic porn or anything.
While in Chicago last month, wine of course was sold in the local wal-mart, and guess what? I didn’t see any kids smuggling wine. I was in the store late and asked the cashier if they had issues with minors buying wine? She looked at me like I had 3 heads. She smiled and said “we have laws that restrict that sale, we can not sell unless we scan a DL or enter a birth date. Hummm common sense approach? Interesting.
I agree changes need to be made and those changes won’t appeal to all. In the end I hope changes that are made will make things better for the consumer ultimately.
While I agree that this change won’t all of a sudden make all the craft brewers we want to appear in Homeland I truly wonder if anyone is actually listening to what this liquor store coalition is saying? Everything they say is anti-competitive, pro-monopoly, and conspiracy theories! They aren’t interested in competing against other retailers, they don’t want to invest in upgrading their stores to sell cold beer, and they seem to think just because we’ve had this system for 50 years that it’s somehow a good system. Just because the current system exists doesn’t make it right or best for the consumer! It’s time Oklahoma joins the rest of the nation and moves out of these prohibition era relics.
I have changed my stance on this. I am all for this to happen. This would be the best thing for Oklahoma and my business especially. I need these laws to change!! The only thing keeping me from making more money IS these laws.
I totally disagree with allowing strong beer and wine in grocery stores. I do not see how this will increase revenue. If you add a big box grocery store, it is not like they will sell more to the average consumer. I am not going to buy more groceries or wine just because it is more convenient. I have a budget and whether I buy my groceries at Wal-Mart or at Whole Foods, I am not going to buy more. And actually I will likley go to Wal-mart since the prices are cheaper. And I sure am not going to buy more wine because it is there. This idea only will increase wine and strong beer sales, not make things better for me as a consumer. You say that I can have more choices, but I disagree. I can go to a specialty shop to get my wine or strong beer if I need it, and guess what….there is already a spciality place for this, a liquor store, a winery, etc.
I really don’t see the point of this petition. What advantage does this bring to the consumer? Being able to buy Yellow Tail at Quick Trip is not a selling point in my book. If you think that the chain stores will suddenly stock our favorite rare beers then you need to review your principals about economics. This will be interesting for sure.