NC lawmakers try again on Sunday liquor sales, consider tax break for Durham space whiskey

State lawmakers rolled out a lengthy rewrite of North Carolina’s alcohol laws Tuesday, potentially opening the door for Sunday liquor sales and happy hour drink specials — which are popular in other states, but prohibited here.

Plus: The bill includes a tax break for whiskey shot into outer space.

The bill was introduced in the House Alcoholic Beverage Control Committee — the first of many expected steps in its legislative journey.

Sponsors of the bill took nearly 45 minutes to go over the 36-page measure, longer than usual compared to most other proposed legislation and a sign of how detailed the bill is.

North Carolina has some of the strictest alcohol laws in the country. For instance, it’s one of just a handful of states that don't currently allow happy-hour drink specials; state lawmakers banned them in the 1980s, when the state was cracking down on drunk driving.

For the Republican-controlled legislature, any bills that loosen restrictions on alcohol sales can be tricky to navigate politically. The party's supporters in the business community tend to want such rules, but many religious activists oppose them.

Those who support the state’s current, relatively strict alcohol rules say they help public safety by discouraging drinking. But supporters of looser restrictions say they’re just trying to bring the state’s alcohol laws out of the Prohibition era, and into the 21st Century.

Bill negotiators said they’re open to changes before the bill moves forward, and that process may play out quickly now that the bill, negotiated behind closed doors, is public.

General Assembly leaders have said they hope to wrap up this legislative session next month.

The North Carolina Retail Merchants Association spoke in favor of the bill during a Tuesday committee hearing, thanking bill sponsors for their work and saying it modernizes the system.

Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League, spoke against the measure and asked lawmakers not to “simply rubber stamp what is an industry driven bill.”

The bill has several steps to go before it can become law, likely needing to move through multiple legislative committees before it comes to the House, and then Senate, floor for a vote.

Sunday sales, drink specials

Senate Bill 527 includes several high priorities for restaurants and alcohol producers, including another attempt to authorize Sunday sales. The bill would give local governments the option to open ABC stores no earlier than 10 a.m. on Sundays, as well as open them on every holiday except Christmas and Thanksgiving.

The bill also revives a push for happy hours, technically illegal in North Carolina, by authorizing lower prices and buy-one-get-one drink specials. Thatis would also be optional, with local government leaders able to authorize the change by ordinance.

The bill would also restore a pandemic-era rule allowing restaurants to sell mixed drinks to go and for delivery, if they’re sold with food.

There's also a section reworking liquor taxes for a Durham company that wants to send whiskey into space to age. Because those bottles would sell for $50,000 each, the state’s percentage tax would make the product too expensive, sponsoring state Sen. Tim Moffitt said Tuesday. Instead the whiskey would be taxed at a flat rate.

Other changes in the bill include:

• Two new members for the ABC Commission that regulates alcohol sales in North Carolina, both appointed by the legislature. Currently there are three members, all appointed by the governor. The General Assembly’s Republican majority is pushing several measures stripping the governor of appointments or diluting his authority.
• Higher prices for the cheapest liquors, due to a new minimum pricing floor.
• New rules for the sale of hard-to-get liquors, such as rare bourbons. Stores would have to keep a list of who receives these bottles, and it would be illegal to resell them, triggering a minimum $500 fine.
• Letting store charge more for gift boxes, which are often sold at holidays and typically come with a bottle of liquor plus glassware. Moffitt, R-Henderson, said the law forbids ABC stores now from charging more than they charge just for the bottle, so they’re “effectively giving away” the glasses, which means liquor companies don’t always ship their best gift sets to North Carolina.
• Allowing retailers to buy liquor at any ABC store in their county, instead of having local ABC boards require them to purchase at an assigned store.
• Letting ABC stories sell gift cards.
• Looser rules on for alcohol sales on trains.
• Looser mixed drink sale maximums at conventions and festivals.
• Allowing mobile bars to get a permit to serve at events instead of having the event planners be responsible. Moffitt called this a “a one-stop shopping type of solution for those people that want to have those type of events.”
• Streamline the process for transferring ownership of an establishment that sells alcohol due to a backlog that lawmakers say has lengthened process times.