Cuomo calls for ‘modern’ makeover of state liquor laws
Gov. Andrew Cuomo stopped at a new brewery in Rochester this week to announce changes to state alcohol laws he plans to push to the state Legislature.
Cuomo said he is advancing legislation that will modernize the 80-year-old Alcoholic Beverage Control Law. The changes come from recommendations by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law Working Group, a panel Cuomo commissioned in November.
“New York”™s investments in the craft beverage industry have driven growth, created hundreds of jobs and unleashed a new optimism and energy amongst wineries, breweries, distilleries and cideries across the state,” Cuomo said. “This new legislation will build on that progress by modernizing the state”™s Blue Laws, cutting through the red tape and removing artificial barriers to growth.
The changes would include:
- A permit to allow restaurants and bars to serve alcohol before noon on Sundays.
- Allow the New York State Liquor Authority to issue a full liquor license to locations within 200 feet of a school or place of worship, provided the school or place of worship have the opportunity to be heard during the application process.
- Combine craft manufacturing licenses into a single license ””meaning a winery that wants to distill whiskey wouldn’t need two separate licenses.
- Authorize the sale of wine in growlers.
- Reduce the fees for a solicitor permit craft beer salespeople are required to obtain.
- Reduce the fees for small craft producers to sell product wholesale.
Cuomo has made the craft beer and wine industry in New York a focus of his economic development and tourism initiatives. A release from his office claims that the number of craft beverage producers has doubled since 2011.
But his proposal will have to be approved by the state Legislature. The current session ends June 16.