Cold beer expansion will get a hearing and a vote in Senate committee, chairman pledges

A key Indiana lawmaker pledged Monday to allow a hearing and a vote on a proposal to expand cold beer sales to grocery and convenience stores.

Sen. Ron Alting, whose Senate Public Policy Committee has long been a graveyard for such proposals, made that commitment during a roll out of Senate Republicans' top goals for the 2018 legislative session.

"I thought it was due time to have that dialogue and more importantly to have a vote and see what the Senate Public Policy committee believes about the future of cold beer sales," the Lafayette Republican said.

The pledge provides a ray of hope for convenience stores that want the right to sell cold beer, but the proposal's prospects remain questionable. Right now, only liquor stores can sell cold carryout beer in Indiana, with few exceptions.

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"We are encouraged by today’s news," said Jay Ricker, founder of the Ricker's convenience store chain. "Cold beer is the number one reform Hoosiers want in our state’s alcohol laws."

The cold beer measure, Senate Bill 26, will be carried by Sen. Phil Boots, whose family owns a chain of gas stations. He has routinely proposed alcohol reforms in the past, with little success.

Moreover, as chairman, Alting will continue to have significant control over any cold beer proposals, and there is no indication that his opposition has waned.

The odds are much better for ending the state's post-Prohibition ban on Sunday carryout alcohol sales, especially after Senate Republicans on Monday made it one of their top goals for the 2018 legislative session, which runs through March.

Senate Bill 1 would legalize Sunday carryout alcohol sales from noon to 8 p.m. Alting will carry the measure.

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Alting and Senate President Pro Tempore David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said the eight-hour window was an acknowledgement that liquor stores, which are now closed on Sunday, will have to add a new shift.

The Sunday sales bill was recently recommended by an Alcohol Code Revision Commission appointed by lawmakers after two Rickers gas stations began selling cold beer under a restaurant license last year.

The Sunday sales proposal is supported by the state's small but powerful liquor store industry, which has traditionally opposed such measures amid fears that they would lose market share to big box grocery stores.

The liquor stores agreed to drop their opposition under an unlikely alliance with the state's grocery and big box stores. In exchange, those retailers are joining liquor stores in opposing the expansion of cold beer sales.

While support for Sunday sales has become virtually unanimous over the past year, the cold beer issue remains a contentious one.

Just last month, the code revision commission voted 8-7 to recommend expanded cold beer sales, but the measure failed because 9 of the 17 members had to vote in favor of the recommendation for it to pass.

Two members — Gina-Gail Fletcher and Alex Huskey — were absent. Alting and his counterpart in the House, Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn, voted against the cold beer proposal.

Indiana is the only state that regulates beer by temperature and public opinion polls show a large majority of Hoosiers support both Sunday alcohol and expanded cold beer sales.

Call IndyStar reporter Tony Cook at (317) 444-6081. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

Senate Republican priorities

In addition to Sunday alcohol sales, here are the top goals for Senate Republicans during the 2018 legislative session:

Opioid abuse: SB 221, carried by Sen. Erin Houchin, R-Salem, would require doctors to use the state's prescription monitoring service in an effort to prevent the over-prescription of opioids. It would be phased in over four years.

Workforce development: SB 50, carried by Sen. Doug Eckerty, R-Yorktown, would expand financial aid for job-traning programs. SB 172, carried by Sen. Jeff Raatz, R-Centerville, would require high schools to offer a computer science class as an elective.

School funding and diplomas: SB 189, carried by Sen. Ryan Mishler, R-Bremen, would increase school funding to account or higher-than-expected enrollment in public schools, including Indianapolis Public Schools. SB 177, carried by Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, would create a single Indiana diploma to ensure all high school graduates are counted in the state's graduation rate.

Civil forfeiture: SB 99, carried by Sen. Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, would change the state's civil forfeiture laws in an effort to balance law-enforcement needs and property owner's rights.