Relaxing the rules on booze deliveries
The preponderance of bills proposed by state lawmakers would expand government regulation, so we’re always pleased when a measure would actually roll back state rules and let Californians live their lives with less government meddling.
Toward that end, Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, has introduced Senate Bill 620, which would allow craft distilleries and brewers to ship their products directly to people’s homes. California law has for 35 years allowed vintners to ship bottles directly to consumers — a service that has boosted the state’s economically vital wine industry without any ill effects.
In-state beer makers have also been free to ship their IPAs and other tasty brews to California consumers. This legislation would also allow out-of-state craft breweries to do the same thing. As the Sacramento Bee reported, this provision removes the state’s potential conflict with federal interstate commerce rules.
Companies still need all the requisite permits and must comply with various alcoholrelated regulations and tax laws. They may ship booze only for consumer use — not for resale. Nevertheless, the legislation takes a refreshing step in the right direction.
Gov. Gavin Newsom last year signed a COVID-19-related executive order that allowed these producers to make direct shipments, but SB 620 would make the relaxed rules permanent. We’ve often taken issue with the governor’s profligate use of emergency edict powers, but his instincts were right here.
Of course, legislation — rather than executive order — is the proper way to do this. While the coronavirus has at least temporarily eroded some of our freedoms, it also has shown that we can dispense with nonsensical regulations and give consumers more options.
“Allowing distilled spirits and beer manufacturers to ship their products directly to consumers, as is already allowed for wine, will support affected businesses that have struggled to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Allen said in a statement.
“What America needs now is a drink,” President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in 1933 at the end of Prohibition. As the state lifts its coronavirus restrictions, Californians need one, too, and this bill will help them get it more easily.