Cold beer battle brewing after GOP leaders offer final bills
Lawmakers worked Wednesday to keep legislation alive that addresses a legal loophole used by Ricker's convenience stores to sell cold beer at two of its 50 locations.
Lawmakers worked Wednesday to keep legislation alive that addresses a legal loophole used by Ricker's convenience stores to sell cold beer at two of its 50 locations.
Hundreds of Indiana restaurants seeking to renew their alcohol permits are now on hold due to a legislative kerfuffle that erupted when two Ricker's convenience stores started selling cold beer.
The convenience store chain would be able to keep the permits that two locations use to sell cold carryout beer—a hot-button issue for Indiana liquor stores. Renewing the permits might be trickier.
Holcomb said it’s up to the General Assembly to decide whether the law should be tweaked but he provided legislators no direction.
A legal loophole used by an Indiana convenience store chain to sell cold beer would be snapped shut under a proposal that was advanced Wednesday by the Senate Public Policy Committee.
Spirited Sales and the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission are at odds in a lawsuit that could decide whether Indiana beer and wine wholesalers can also legally sell liquor.
Attorney General Greg Zoeller said he will ask the Indiana Supreme Court to put on hold a lower court ruling that said the state must grant a wholesaler permit to Spirited Sales LLC, a company affiliated with Monarch Beverage that wants to sell liquor.
A Marion County judge’s ruling has heated up the battle between liquor distributors and a group of beer distributors operating in the state and Indianapolis-based beer wholesaler Monarch Beverage Co.
The state has requested a stay of a Marion County judge’s ruling last week that opens the door for a Monarch Beverage affiliate to enter the liquor-wholesaling business.
Monarch Beverage Co.’s attempts to enter the liquor business over the past decade were frequently met with displeasure from staffers in the Indiana Governor’s Office and at the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, according to private emails brought to light by a recent court case.
A special prosecutor says he has found no evidence that one of Indiana's largest beer distributors improperly funneled more than $1.5 million in campaign contributions.
The new law lifts the ban on carryout sales for artisan distilleries, putting the businesses on par with wineries and craft breweries, which already sell alcohol on Sundays.
At issue is whether more than $1.47 million in campaign donations by Monarch affiliate Vision Concepts LLC illegally circumvented a state law limiting corporate campaign contributions.
Indiana residents might lose an hour of sleep this weekend when daylight saving time returns, but they won't lose any time to buy alcohol early Sunday.
Indiana state parks would be able to bypass local liquor authorities and allow on-site vendors to serve alcohol despite objections from local residents under a bill advancing in the Legislature.
The House passed legislation Tuesday that would provide more alcohol permits for Hamilton and Boone counties, while the Senate passed a bill to let the Indianapolis Motor Speedway sell carry-out bottles of commemorative booze.
Indiana lawmakers are on track to help race fans celebrate the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 in May with a high-octane, commemorative beverage they can take home.
A new proposal to lift Indiana's eight decades-old ban on Sunday carryout alcohol sales would impose fewer new restrictions on grocery stores and pharmacies than a bill that failed in the Legislature last year.
Indiana House Public Policy Chairman Tom Dermody of LaPorte said he's working on a bill legalizing Sunday sales that he expects to file next week.
Indiana residents will be able to purchase wine, beer or other alcoholic beverages on Christmas Day for the first time in decades under a change in state law.