GREENFIELD — Local alcohol sellers and brewers have mixed opinions concerning potential changes to the state’s liquor laws.
State Treasurer Deb Goldberg recently established a seven-member advisory task force to review laws governing the Massachusetts alcohol industry.
The issues that officials and industry executives suggested could be reviewed include: 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, and clarifying rules about so-called pay-to-play incentives.
Goldberg said this week that the state’s alcohol laws are due for a comprehensive review, with many of them dating back to the 1933 repeal of prohibition. Over the years, the laws have been affected by some “piecemeal” reforms, creating “a system that lacks the cohesiveness that consumers, regulators and businesses need to operate efficiently and safely,” she said.
In the opinion of Chris Sellers, brewmaster at The People’s Pint in Greenfield, it’s “high time” for a review of the laws.
“It’s really logical to go through them and figure out things that just don’t make sense in today’s beer and alcohol environment,” he said.
Though Sellers only brews beer mostly to sell at Federal Street brew pub and a few local retailers, from the perspective of a local brewer, he was particularly intrigued to hear that beer-makers could be allowed to switch distributors more easily.
“It can be extremely frustrating for a small brewer to be locked into a contract with a distributor and things don’t work out the way they had hoped,” he said. “They can be stuck with that distributor for a long time.”
From a sustainability point of view, Sellers added that loosening restrictions on reusing growlers would also be a positive change.
Josh Breitner, general manager of The People’s Pint, was pleased with the idea of clarifying rules surrounding pay-to-play incentives, whereby brewers illegally provide gifts to bars to sell their product.
“There are definitely people who are in violation of the spirit of the law, if not the letter of the law, and one gets the impression that it’s very loosely enforced,” he said.
Breitner also feels lifting the cap on liquor licenses, at least in Greenfield’s case, is unnecessary. He believes Greenfield has enough liquor stores, though he would like to see more pouring licenses issued to restaurants and bars.
Kristie Faufaw, owner of Ryan & Casey Liquors in Greenfield and Cold River Package & Market in Charlemont, said she doesn’t agree with any of the proposed changes, especially not extending package store hours, a change which would most directly affect her stores.
“I am pretty sure that the expenses to stay open between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. in the morning is much greater than the profit would equal,” she said.
In terms of boosting funding to the ABCC, Faufaw proposed lowering the state excise tax, as the tax makes it difficult to compete with tax-free stores in nearby New Hampshire.
“Lowering the excise tax on sales of alcohol might make for larger sales volumes,” she said. “The biggest loss of revenue on alcohol for the state is losing sales to New Hampshire.”
Sellers hopes the new committee responsible for reviewing the laws will maintain a dialogue with the various businesses that would be affected by those law changes.
“When you make changes related to regulations, it’s really super important to make sure you have a long and thorough conversation with the businesses involved in that industry,” he said.
According to Goldberg’s office, task force members who have already been appointed include: Kate Cook, who was chief legal counsel to former Gov. Deval Patrick; Rachel Rollins, the former chief legal counsel to the Massachusetts Port Authority; Lisa Wong, the former mayor of Fitchburg; John Fernandes, the former Milford state rep who was co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee; and Senate President Stan Rosenberg’s press secretary Pete Wilson. The chair of the task force and an additional appointee to be determined by Gov. Charlie Baker have not yet been announced.
The task force will not be subject to the open meeting law, the release continues, though it is directed to convene at least five public comment sessions around the state. A preliminary report is also due from the task force within six months of it convening.