BOSTON — Adding to an ongoing debate on Beacon Hill that has a potential solution tied up in legislative negotiations, Auditor Diana DiZoglio is renewing calls to grant municipalities more authority over how many on-premises liquor licenses they can issue. Meanwhile, a key hospitality group is calling for protections for current license holders.
DiZoglio’s office said a 1933 state law that established a population-based quota for how many liquor licenses most municipalities can receive creates a shortage because it doesn’t account for local demand. As a result, prospective licensees — especially smaller or first-time businesses — can face greater barriers to accessing licenses, a report released Tuesday found.
“We need a liquor licensing system that is transparent, fair, and gives all of our local businesses a shot at success,” DiZoglio said in a statement. “You shouldn’t need to have unlimited access to money and all of the right political connections to obtain a liquor license. We need to do better, and our report shines a light on how and why the system is falling short. Massachusetts does not have to choose between responsible alcohol regulation and economic opportunity. Both are possible.”
DiZoglio also said her office’s study offers “evidence-based insights” to boost access to licenses and establish a system that is more transparent and receptive to businesses.
Licensees can pursue home rule petitions if their municipality has hit its quota, but the report found the process to be “opaque, inconsistent, and unpredictable” — mirroring sentiments of municipal leaders. A licensee can also purchase a license from another business through a secondary market or consider relocating to another municipality, although the report found that these options can be expensive, with some licenses selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The report found that 238 of the 302 municipalities subject to the quota are “unconstrained,” meaning they have issued up to 79% of the licenses they are allowed, with a total of 3,466 licenses still available. The remaining 64 municipalities are considered “constrained,” meaning they have issued 80% or more of the licenses they can under the quota; these cities and towns have 263 licenses available.
Another 26 municipalities are essentially freed from the quota because of a legal exemption window that opened from 1978 to 1984. Twenty-one of these 26 municipalities, including Cambridge and Nantucket, have issued more licenses than they would be hypothetically permitted to issue under the quota, according to the report.
Among its several recommendations aimed at boosting equity, the report calls for the Legislature to eliminate the current system and shift more power to local leaders.
Similar legislation from Sen. Jacob Oliveira (S 279) has been pending in the Senate Committee on Ways and Means since January. The House Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure included the House version (H 437), filed by Rep. Joseph McKenna, in a study order in November 2025.
In 2024, Gov. Maura Healey announced, but didn’t file, legislation granting cities and towns more control over how many liquor licenses they can issue. At the time, Senate President Karen Spilka supported the idea while House leaders expressed skepticism.
The Senate’s economic development bill, which is now before a six-person conference committee for negotiations, would also grant cities and towns local control of liquor licenses.
The Massachusetts Restaurant Association appears hesitant to embrace the idea. Jessica Moore, the association’s director of government affairs, said the report “raises important questions about the number and availability of licenses” across municipalities. Moore said any reforms should account for the effects on existing license holders.
“For many independent restaurant owners, a liquor license is one of their most valuable business assets and a critical source of collateral. If its value is substantially reduced, owners may be forced to provide personal guarantees or pledge other assets, including their homes,” Moore said. “Any expansion of municipal licensing authority must include meaningful protections for current license holders. We look forward to working with the ABCC, the Legislature, and other stakeholders on reforms that expand opportunity while protecting existing businesses.”
The report also found that 36.2% of the state’s population — or about 2.5 million people — lives within a constrained municipality. And these cities and towns, including Boston, Waltham and Salem, share common traits: they tend to have larger and more dense populations, “well-established commercial districts,” and tourism economies. Under legislation enacted in 2024, Boston gained 225 liquor licenses under a home rule petition lawmakers from in and outside the city celebrated for boosting equity and economic development.
The report also found that wealthier municipalities tend to issue more on-premises liquor licenses per 10,000 residents than their less wealthy counterparts. Additionally, businesses in municipalities subject to the quota reported paying far more to purchase licenses in the private secondary market than those in the 26 cities and towns exempt from the quota.
Katie Castellani is a reporter for State House News Service and State Affairs Pro Massachusetts. Reach her at [email protected].
Original article
Comments