‘Liquor wall’ will stand as Gov. Scott vetoes bill
Store owners’ pleas lead to his decision
TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s so-called “liquor wall” won’t be coming down after all.
Gov. Rick Scott vetoed a bill late Wednesday that would have removed a Prohibition-era law requiring liquor to be sold in separate stores from groceries and other retail items.
Twenty-nine other states have similar laws that allow spirits in the grocery aisles, but the bill gained stiff opposition from social conservatives concerned it would lead to increased alcohol consumption, alcoholism and underage drinking.
Yet it wasn’t those concerns that swayed Scott. It was the pleas of independent liquor store owners and workers that led to his veto.
“I have heard concerns as to how this bill could affect many small businesses across Florida,” Scott wrote in his veto letter. “I was a small business owner, and many locally
owned businesses have told me how this bill will impact their families and their ability to create jobs.”
Scott gave few clues in the lead-in to his decision, but acknowledged on Tuesday that his family’s history with alcoholism — his biological father and brother both suffered from it — gave him pause.
“I’ve had family members that have had the challenge of alcoholism, and it concerns me,” Scott told reporters Tuesday. “So as I review the bill, I take all those things into consideration.”
Big-box retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Target, pushed for the bill the past four years and don’t appear to be giving up on the idea.
“There is a clear momentum in Florida for this common-sense approach to liquor sales,” said Michael Williams, spokesman for Floridians for Fair Business Practices, an advocacy group backed by Wal-Mart and Target. “We look forward to working with state leaders in the future to finally put an end to this outdated Prohibition-era law.”
The bill was one of the most heavily lobbied pieces of legislation this year. As big retailers pushed for the measure, independent liquor stores and Orlando-based ABC Fine Wine & Spirits fought against it. Publix, which has gone to the expense of setting up liquor stores next to its grocery stores, also opposed the legislation.
Wal-Mart and Target have 30 registered lobbyists combined, and Publix and ABC have seven. Michael Corcoran, brother of House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’Lakes, is a Wal-Mart lobbyist.
The bill passed the House last month by a single vote, 58-57, with five members not voting. The vote in the Senate was 21-17.
The lobbying came after Wal-Mart, Target, Publix and ABC all gave generously to both major parties and elected officials during the 2016 campaign and in the lead-up to the legislative session.
Wal-Mart gave $50,000 to the Republican Party of Florida on March 6, the day before the start of the legislative session, and $7,500 to the Florida Democratic Party in September. It has also given $10,000 to Florida Roundtable, Corcoran’s political committee, and $204,000 to the Florida Senatorial Campaign Committee, led by Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, since 2015. Scott’s political committee, Let’s Get to Work, has received $110,000 from Wal-Mart since December 2015.
Publix gave $50,000 to Scott’s committee in January, and ABC gave $25,000 to the Florida Democratic Party during the 2016 campaign cycle.
Scott had separate teleconference meetings with Wal-Mart’s U.S. president Greg Foran and ABC CEO Charles Bailes on Tuesday.
Scott’s office also received 969 phone calls, emails and letters supporting the bill, and 6,751 calls, emails and petitions opposing the measure as of Monday.
The bill would not have taken effect until next year and would have been phased in, allowing retailers that sell groceries to sell spirits in 25 percent of their stores in Florida starting July 1, 2018, rising to half their stores in 2019 and 75 percent in 2020.
Gas stations with more than 10,000 square feet also could have offered liquor under the bill.