Cocktails, wine now available to go
Bars, restaurants cheer Evers’ signature on bill
MADISON - A year after the coronavirus pandemic forced customers to avoid drinking and eating in public, bars and restaurants may now start selling wine and cocktails to go.
Gov. Tony Evers on Friday signed a bill that would allow taverns and restaurants to sell wine and mixed drinks in sealed containers for curbside or instore pickup. The law takes effect Sunday.
The new law gives the hospitality industry a new way to boost sales while the pandemic persists but also comes months after revenue losses were at their worst, just as warmer weather is pushing patios to reopen and as more of Wisconsin becomes vaccinated.
“It’s taken awhile to get them to go but we’re happy — it’s not going to magically save a lot of businesses over the course of the last year but it’s an important tool,” Scott Stenger, a lobbyist for the Tavern League of Wisconsin, said. “It’s the first time that we’ve gotten good news.”
Until now, bars and restaurants could sell drinks to go only if they are in their original packaging. They could sell a bottle of wine to go, but not a glass of wine to go.
Whether to allow selling alcohol to go
has been simmering at the state Capitol for a year, with restaurants, bars and others saying they needed help during the pandemic. Until this month, lawmakers offered few signs they would take up such measures.
Critics have raised concerns that curbside pickups could contribute to drunken driving or allow alcohol to more easily get into the hands of those who are under 21.
Stenger said, on average, his members have lost about 40% of their revenue during the pandemic when compared to 2019.
“If this was triage, this would have been something that would have been probably done right away at the beginning,” Stenger said.
Evers vetoes state worker measure
Also Friday, Evers vetoed a bill that would have required him to submit a plan to the Legislature for having state workers return to their offices.
Republican lawmakers said such a plan was essential because workers would be more productive in an office, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos questioned whether agency employees were actually doing their jobs while at home.
In his veto message, Evers said he was rejecting the bill “because it encroaches on the authority of the Governor to administer and oversee employment policies” for state workers.
He noted more state workers will be working out of their offices starting April 5.
“Our state would not have been able to adequately respond to this crisis or provide the support Wisconsinites have needed without our state workers, many of whom … have gone well beyond the ordinary call of duty to serve the people of our state in the face of unparalleled challenges. This work should not be discounted or demeaned,” he wrote.
Evers also vetoed Senate Bill 39, which would have allowed students who attend virtual charter schools outside of their school districts to participate in their districts’ athletic and extracurricular programs.
Evers in his veto message argued the measure would undermine the authority of school boards and contended officials in their home district would have no way of knowing whether the students were attending their virtual classes or how they were performing academically.
Rep. Barb Dittrich, R-Oconomowoc, said Evers’ veto could trigger lawsuits.
“(Evers’) actions will only serve to drive more Wisconsin students out of public schools into home school and private schools. Further, he may have opened the state to litigation by favoring certain students over others,” Dittrich said, referring to home-schooled students who may participate in school district programs.