Legislator: Indiana's 90-year-old laws don't make sense in modern economy

Cold beer for takeout can be sold only at package liquor stores, which aren’t open Sundays.

Convoluted alcohol laws flow from Indiana’s three-tier system of producers, distributors and retailers. More than 90 types of state permits are available to applicants who wish to sell alcohol in the state.

The system, seemingly rife for loophole seekers, came under attack during the recent Indiana General Assembly when legislators learned that two Ricker’s convenience stores were selling cold beer under a legally obtained restaurant license. The Legislature closed the loophole.

Jay Ricker, co-founder of Ricker’s, calls Indiana’s alcohol laws “Byzantine.”

House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, terms the regulations “antiquated.”

Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said the Legislature needs to take a “deep dive” into the laws. “It’s time to do it. It’s a 90-year-old set of laws that … don’t make sense in the modern economy of Indiana.”

A two-year, 17-member commission was established Thursday by the Legislature to study and possibly revamp the state’s alcohol sales laws.

CNHI News Indiana asked alcohol interest group representatives to identify three laws that they believe need to change. Here are their edited responses.

- Scot Imus, executive director of Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association:

“One, give all licensed retailers the ability to sell cold beer. Two, allow for the Sunday sale of carryout alcohol beverages. Three, require all employees that sell alcohol to complete training approved by the Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission.

“The state must have laws that are consistent and sensible. The prohibition against cold beer sales fails to meet this test. Beer contains the same alcohol content whether warm or cold. Those prohibited today from selling cold beer, can sell cold wine and other cider products, most of which contain a higher alcohol content compared to beer.”

- Jeffrey L. McKean, whose McKean Law Firm in Indianapolis has handled alcoholic beverage licensing and hospitality law matters for over 25 years:

“Indiana law should allow for more flexibility for restaurants to have outside bars. Currently, a restaurant can only have an outside bar if it is located in a hotel, on a waterfront, or if it has a beer garden that is surrounded by obtrusive fencing.

“Indiana’s alcoholic beverage laws are unduly adverse to online ordering and curbside service. Most major supermarkets have internet ordering and delivery services that allow for the convenience of shopping from your home, office or anywhere your smartphone can go. Such services are particularly important to groups like the elderly, busy working mothers and millennials.

“Indiana needs to expand the various categories of on-premises consumption permits available to better fit the marketplace. Currently in Indiana, almost every retailer that provides on-premises consumption qualifies for a permit under Indiana alcoholic beverage law as a ‘restaurant.’

“There are no permit categories specific to such places as bars, taverns, night clubs, bowling alleys, golf courses, theaters, spas or racetracks like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It would make sense to have various specific permit categories with relevant qualifications for each that could be used in the permit evaluation process.”

- Lisa Hutcheson, vice president of Mental Health America of Indiana and director of the Indiana Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking:

“The first thing I would change (back) is universal, mandatory carding for all alcohol purchases. When we had this law, for six months, sales to minors dropped sharply. Mandatory carding for all alcohol purchases takes the pressure off of clerks, who are often not of age themselves, to try to determine if an adult is at least 40.

“Secondly, I would put liquor back in liquor stores exclusively and not allow carryout sales in other retail establishments, except maybe for distilleries if they had certain practices in place. Package stores operate under much more restrictive regulations, making it more difficult for minors to obtain from a liquor store.

“Third, we should increase the alcohol tax. It has been 36 years since Indiana has raised the tax, making us lower than all of our neighboring states (except for Kentucky’s tax on distilled spirits). Raising the tax is an evidence-based strategy that reduces underage use, as well as adult high-risk drinking.

“We need additional funding for prevention and treatment of alcohol — we have a large chasm between those who need treatment and how much treatment we have available.”

- Grant Monahan, president of the Indiana Retail Council, representing grocery, drug and convenience stores:

“Two specific changes the members of the Indiana Retail Council would like to see are Sunday sales and cold beer sales.

“Sunday carryout sales should be permitted at drug, grocery and convenience stores. Sunday is the second-busiest shopping day of the week, and time-starved Hoosiers should be able to do all of their grocery shopping conveniently with one stop.

“Cold beer sales should be permitted at drug, grocery and convenience stores. ... Without competition in the cold-beer market ... an analysis we did a few years ago found that liquor stores charge about a dollar more for a cold case of beer over the price of a warm case. A change in the law permitting cold-beer sales at drug, grocery and convenience stores will bring competition to the marketplace and convenience to the customer.

“Our third request of the General Assembly would be a broad-based request to bring free-market principles to the law by eliminating unnecessary restrictions. For example, retailers are required by law to pay for beer on delivery. Why? Payment requirements should be a business decision between supplier and customer.”