BOSTON — As lawmakers cap off nearly three months without resolving any of the bills in 12 conference committees, local control of liquor licenses remains a topic in limbo.
House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz defended the existing liquor license system earlier this month, right after state Auditor Diana DiZoglio issued recommendations overhauling the system and while a measure that would grant municipalities local control of liquor licenses pends before economic development conferees.
Michlewitz said the “checks and balances system” is working, through which localities can obtain additional liquor licenses by sending home rule petitions to Beacon Hill and lawmakers must give their sign-off.
“I point to the last two major liquor bills we’ve done, coming from Boston and brought up here,” Michlewitz said, “It came up here, and what all the Boston delegation members heard from their constituents was that the city did not attach that it had to require food be served with the liquor, and they missed that in that process.”
“That allowed us in that instance to be able to add the fact that all these new licenses had to be restaurants. Because the communities wanted restaurants. They didn’t want bars,” Michlewitz continued. “I think at the end of the day, a lot of neighborhood community folks were very happy that there was a checks and balances in that system to allow that.”
The Senate included a measure giving power over liquor licenses to localities to its economic development bond bill in July; House leaders in the past have been skeptical of local control over liquor licenses. But the Legislature in 2024 passed a law authorizing Boston to award 225 liquor licenses over three years, and this summer fast-tracked a temporary measure allowing later last calls and “public consumption districts” to coincide with the state hosting World Cup matches.
Local officials have urged lawmakers to release their grip on licenses.
Sen. Jacob Oliveira this session proposed similar legislation (S 279) that has been pending in the Senate Ways and Means Committee since January. He said in May that the measure intends “to make sure that we empower our 351 cities and towns, as well as provide some flexibility to our businesses.”
Reps. Michlewitz, Carole Fiola of Fall River and Michael Soter of Bellingham, and Sens. Barry Finegold of Andover, Michael Rodrigues of Westport and Peter Durant of Spencer have been privately negotiating the economic development bill since July 31.
DiZoglio released a report on Oct. 13 recommending to grant municipalities more authority over how many on-premises liquor licenses they can issue. The report found that while licenses can pursue home rule petitions if their municipality has hit its quota, the process is “opaque, inconsistent, and unpredictable.”
The report also flagged an “inequitable two-tier system” whereby 26 municipalities have local control over licensing and 302 are restricted by a state-imposed quota formula. License access also “rises with municipal wealth,” her report said.
Alcohol licensing bills accounts for a sizeable portion of the laws passed each session on Beacon Hill and the proposals are constantly being vetted by committees or the full House and Senate. On Thursday, the Senate passed a bill allowing six additional licenses for the town of Millbury, including four for businesses located at the Shoppes at Blackstone Valley. On Oct. 1, Gov. Maura Healey signed a bill enabling Southborough to grant a license to Costco Atlantic Liquors, Inc. Other communities are still trying to move their licensing bills through the Legislature.
The Massachusetts Package Stores Association took issue with the report’s recommendation to eliminate the quota system “without specifying to leave off-premise alone”; DiZoglio said the report speaks specifically to on-premise licenses.
When defending the existing system, Michlewitz also noted the temporary one-hour “last call” extension lawmakers allowed for licensees during the World Cup. He explained that lawmakers, instead of granting blanket 3 a.m. last call licenses, made the one-hour extension policy because not all licensees have the “experience of understanding how to handle late night crowds.”
“The 2 o’clock crowd is a lot different than the midnight crowd,” Michlewitz said. “Granting a 3 o’clock license to a midnight operator hypothetically could lead to a lot more challenging issues, even for a short period of time at the World Cup. So we made the changes that allowed it to just be a one hour extension.”
There are several other contested measures negotiators must hash out in economic development talks, including artificial intelligence regulations and historical horse racing authorization.
Ella Adams is a reporter for the State House News Service and State Affairs Massachusetts. Reach her at [email protected].
Original article
Comments