A Very Boozy Afternoon: State Senators Vote on Bevy of Wine and Beer Bills
The county's delegation of senators will spend the afternoon discussing where and how businesses can sell beer and wine.
It is unclear what the rules are regarding state legislators drinking on the job, but this afternoon's agenda for the Montgomery County Senate Delegation may be enough to make anyone reach for the nearest glass of vino.
Here's what county senators will be discussing and possibly voting on today:
1) Winery Special Event Permits - Farmers' Markets, sponsored by Del. Eric Luedtke (D-Dist 14).
Essentially, farmers' markets need permits to host special wine tasting events. With all of the markets in Montgomery County, legislators want to amend the law to allow them to be able to get a permit.
Read more here. The House delegation already voted yes on this.
2) Montgomery County - Alcoholic Beverages - Refillable Beer Containers, sponsored by Del. Susan Lee (D-Dist 16) and Sen. Brian Frosh (D-Dist 16).
Have you heard of a growler? It's a refillable, 1-gallon container of beer and they're all the rage amongst microbrewery enthusiasts. This amendment to local alcohol laws would allow certain beer and wine sellers to permit growlers. If passed, Montgomery County would be one a few counties to permit the practice, according to reporting from Anne Arundel County Patch.
"It’s an up and coming trend, by the end of the [2013] session we should have six or seven counties," Sen. Ed Reilly (R-Crofton) said.
Read more here. The House delegation already voted yes on this.
3) Montgomery County - Consumption of Wine Not Bought from License Holder - Class H Licenses, sponsored by the chair of the delegation on behalf of Montgomery County government.
This is an amendment to an amendment passed last year that allows local restaurants and hotels to allow patrons to bring their own wine to dinner but be charged a corkage fee. Last year's bill forgot to include businesses with Class H licenses. Del. Anne Kaiser (D-Dist 14), chair of the House delegation, said it's a small number of businesses that fall into this type of license that should not have been excluded last year.
"All we're doing is fixing it," Kaiser told Patch.
Read more here. The House delegation already voted yes on this.
(Psst...the House delegation meets Friday morning. See what they'll be discussing here.)
Jay Levy
9:10 am on Friday, February 8, 2013
Isn't it amazing that our elected officials spend their valuable time in Annapolis nitpicking over minutia to protect the public when it comes to the sale of beer and spirits but we have not seen such careful measure of the law when it comes to protecting the public from the sale of deadly weapons that fire bullets.
kmcorazzini
10:21 am on Friday, February 8, 2013
Drinking and driving....bad idea Drinking and firearms.....bad idea......Drinking all the time ...bad idea. Drinking at work .....bad idea The three martini lunch......bad idea.
Drinking at parties and engaging in "loose " behavior.....bad idea. Maybe the legislature should focus on RESTRICTING alcohol sales rather than encouraging drunken behavior all the time and everywhere. Rich liberals love to tell everyone else how to live......guess what ...your kids drink too much.
jag
10:59 am on Friday, February 8, 2013
"Maybe the legislature should focus on RESTRICTING alcohol sales rather than encouraging drunken behavior all the time and everywhere. Rich liberals love to tell everyone else how to live......guess what ...your kids drink too much."
...huh? So do you want "rich liberals" to tell you poor conservatives when and how you can drink or not? You're speaking nonsense.
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These are perfectly fine steps, but the state/county still have a long ways to go before all the archaic liquor laws are gone. The fact grocery stores can't sell beer/wine and liquor licence laws basically make running a true bar illegal is laughable.