Utahns who buy groceries online and pick up orders in the store’s parking lot may be allowed to include beer among their purchases, if a bill filed Monday in the Utah Legislature becomes law.
That’s one of the provisions of the annual omnibus liquor bill, SB328, in which lawmakers tweak the state’s laws involving alcohol.
The bill would allow off-premise beer sellers — such as grocery stores — to sell beer in ”a drive-up loading area [that] is contiguous” to the seller’s business or “at a designated parking stall.” The standard rules of selling alcohol would still apply, like not selling to minors or to someone who’s “actually, apparently or obviously intoxicated.”
Price increase
If SB328 becomes law, customers may also see the price of hard liquor go up a few pennies. The bill calls for a small rise in the state’s markup — the difference between what the state’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services pays wholesalers for alcohol and what it charges customers in state liquor stores.
The markup would rise from the current level of 88.5% to 88.85%. Under the current markup, if the state buys a bottle of liquor wholesale for $10, the price it charges the customer is $18.85. The 0.35% added to the markup would add 3.5 cents to the price of that bottle.
Those pennies would go into a new fund, the Inmate Education Restricted Account. The fund would be distributed to provide Utah inmates with vocational training or courses toward a community-college degree.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, told Fox13 in January that mini-bottles — those pocket-sized containers that were once the only way Utahns could buy hard liquor in bars — were being considered for a comeback. However, the bill introduced Monday remains silent on the topic.
The changes offered in SB328 are minor compared to the liquor bill the 2024 Legislature passed. Last year’s bill included a 7-year gradual change in the population quota used to determine how many bar and restaurant licenses the state gives out — meaning more places to buy alcohol would be allowed to open. The 2024 bill also banned the sale of frozen alcoholic products, and spirits over 160 proof, such as Everclear.
Other proposed changes
• Allowing employees of bars and restaurants, if they’re 21 or older, to check the quality of drinks using the so-called “straw test” — dipping a small straw into the drink, pulling it out and tasting the tiny amount in the straw.
• Exempting the state’s land at Point of the Mountain from rules barring businesses from getting a liquor license if the entrance is within 600 feet of a school, park or house of worship. A similar exemption was given last year to the “entertainment district” between the Delta Center and City Creek Center in downtown Salt Lake City.
• Clarifying that the DABS’ liquor commission can deny a license application if the applicant’s history of violating Utah’s liquor laws warrants it
