ANNAPOLIS — Nothing packs ‘em into a House economic-matters committee meeting like a public hearing on liquor laws.
More than 100 people jammed into the public peanut gallery to hear testimony on myriad House bills, including one that would grant the future Fillmore music venue its liquor license.
“We have an $8 million project to revitalize downtown Silver Spring,” Del Brian Feldman (D-16) testified. The problem: Existing law gives liquor licenses to entertainment venues only if they host more than 2,000 patrons, knocking the Colesville Road venue out of contention.
Instead, MoCo delegates are asking lawmakers to shave off 500 people from the minimum headcount. The 1,500-patron minimum capacity would qualify the Fillmore for a license without passing more licenses around to smaller venues, a representative of MoCo’s department of liquor control testified. The Fillmore is expected to hold a maximum 2,000 moshers in its pit.
“Whomever ends up running this venue will need this adjustment,” Feldman told committee members.
Another bill, introduced by Silver Spring Del Tom Hucker (D-20), would permit wine dealers to ship bottles directly to consumers’ homes. Currently, state law allows booze to be shipped only to county package stores, wholesalers and retailers.
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Changes to the existing law face stiff opposition from independent wholesalers and retailers, who worry that direct-to-consumer sales would make it impossible to collect sales and excise taxes. Others worry that it would open the door to minors looking to score sauce.
Even state comptroller Peter Franchot (D) had some issues with the bill. In written testimony, Franchot said the bill didn’t address county-run liquor monopolies like that in Montgomery County.
MoCo’s liquor-control department prohibits booze shipments directly to wholesalers and retailers. Instead, those businesses must score their supplies from county-managed dispensaries, Franchot explained.
“If the intent is to allow wholesalers and retailers in controlled jurisdictions to make direct wine shipments after having purchased that wine from the county dispensary, then this should be clarified in the bill,” Franchot wrote.
The House economic-matters committee will review both bills. If the committee gives the bills a thumbs up, they move on to the full House of Delegates.
Photos: (above) Floor mosaic inside a House of Delegates office building in Annapolis. J. Deseo/SSP; (thumbnail) a glass of vino, courtesy of the Flickr pool Alcohol as Still Life.
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How about loosening liquor control laws so I can buy wine and beer at grocery stores for starters. It’s ridiculous that I have to make two stops: one for food at the market and other for wine at the local “Beer & Wine” deli joint.
I agree with IHY – booze is way too controlled in MoCo. But that’s not terribly relevant to this, because we’re dealing with state-level laws.
Thanks for your comment, IHY.
While I was in Annapolis yesterday, I learned one big thing: The liquor lobbyists wield a lot of influence.
For example, when a PG County delegate proposed the sale of hootch at local supermarkets, a lobbyist for liquor retailers really threw his foot down. Despite Trader Joe’s and World Market’s desire to move into Laurel, liquor sales within those markets would run mom-and-pop beer runs out of business, the lobbyist argued.
The lack of beer at Giant, Whole Foods, Safeway and Sniders shows how influential those lobbyists can be.
A few years ago when Whole Foods wanted a permit to sell beer & wine, I made contact with a local politico (can’t remember his name) and told him I supported WH.
He told me that unfortunately WH would probably be denied (as they eventually were) due to pressure from both the Mom & Pop stores, and, believe it or not, from the few remaining temperance activists. I still remember a letter in the S.S. Gazette warning that if WH was allowed to sell beer and wine, there would be winos in its parking lot.
Yep, we all fear those Whole Paycheck winos who might get blitzed next to their SUV and toss their empty double-glazed organic tempeh & pineapple takout containers at us.
I just want to be able to buy good beer in MoCo… the MoCo distribution requirement SEVERELY limites the choices in the microbrew arena. Gots to go to NoVa for the good stuff… and apparently that, as well as the beer of the month membership I had a year ago, are both illegal.
In the YouTube video, Bruce Bereano says, right off the bat: “The bill would accentuate teenage consumption of alcoholic beverages, evade tax collections….” We’re not idiots. That’s *not* what this is about for Mr. Bereano. It’s about competition for the people that sign his paycheck, and I think the fact that he’s so disingenuous about it shatters his credibility.
And the snide remarks about “Tony Soprano’s Liquors in Upstate New York” (during testimony) was oddly appropriate – even though it was used in reference to what would happen if the bill passed. I equate people like Mr. Bereano to organized crime during the earlier part of the 20th century that wanted to maintain prohibition because they made so much money off illegal sales. In this case, their regressive laws make filling their pockets actually legal.
This is insane.
Editor’s note: The reference to “Tony Soprano’s Liquors in upstate New York” came out of The Washington Post article. — JD (Feb 20, 2008)
Funny how everyone hates chain restaurants, but wants Whole Foods and Trader Joes and Giant to sell alcohol and run all the local merchants out of business. I guess this “morality” only applies to food and not alcohol…
Apples and oranges, RD. We citizens of MoCo want the same rights and conveniences as citizens in all the other jurisdictions where you can pick up a bottle of wine or sixpack of beer to go with the food you’ve just purchased, without having to drive to yet another location.
Mom and Pop stores survive in those jurisdictions by offering goods and services that supermarkets don’t. If that can be done elsewhere, there’s no reason it can’t be done in MoCo.
I can’t speak for others, but “morality” is not a factor in my general disdain for chain restaurants. Quality of food is what I care about, and if a chain is good, like Lebanese Taverna, I’m happy to eat there.
It’s really about diversity of offerings. Right now, MoCo unduly restricts the offerings available to its (taxpaying) citizens.
“and run all the local merchants out of business”
By local business, I assume you mean the Montgomery county government?? Yea, no problem running the liquor business that governmnet has NO PLACE being in out of business… quite happy to actually. Government should regulate business, not be engaged in it. And I don’t care about grocery stores selling it, I just want the mom and pops and anyone else with a liquor license to have the right to import whatever customers want into the county, not just what MoCo imports, which is far less selection than if a real liquor distributor were allowed to do it. If MoCo’s stores were out of the picture and we used real distributors, MoCos stores would be replaced with discount liquor stores like Total Wine (there’s a few in VA), Bottle King (that one might just be a jersey thing, not sure), etc… providing approximately the same competition for the mom & pops as the MoCo stores do, but providing far better customer service and selection. Mom & Pops have their nitch as the place where you can quickly run out and get a chilled 6 pack or bottle of wine. Discount chains have little to no interest in providing that service – keeping stuff cold costs too much for their discount business model. It would be precisely the same dynamic that the mom&pops have with the MoCo stores, they just wouldn’t go through the county for distribution.