INDIANAPOLIS – Hoosier consumers might want it all, but it appears a special commission reviewing state alcohol regulations is headed for a split decision on cold beer and Sunday sales.

The decadeslong debate over the prohibition of selling alcohol for carryout on Sunday has started gaining support and seems almost a fait accompli.

“I haven't been convinced by anybody why Sunday sales shouldn't go through,” said Keith Byers, a lay member of the panel studying the topic.

But expanding who can sell cold beer for carryout seems much less likely to happen.

“It's not as though we are underserved on cold beer. It's out there. I don't see the need to expand it,” said Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn.

He is a member of the special commission and also will likely carry any resulting alcohol legislation in the House.

Smaltz ran the numbers and said expanding the sale of cold beer to groceries, pharmacies and convenience stores would add almost 3,000 new outlets for “ready-to-consume beer.”

For years, consumers have been asking for more common sense rules. But the conversation came to a head this year when legislators became embroiled in an unexpected fight on carryout alcohol.

Ricker's – a Hoosier-based convenience store – added tables and made-to-order Mexican food and then received a restaurant permit for two of its locations that allows carryout of cold beer.

Some restaurants' permits allow carryout but few take advantage of it. Generally, selling cold beer for carryout is the sole purview of the state's liquor stores.

Republican legislative leadership balked – saying Ricker's move goes against the law and court rulings. But both the local and state alcohol boards approved the permits.

Lawmakers then passed a bill that would essentially block the renewal of the Ricker's permits while the panel reviewed the issue. A 17-member panel was appointed to come up with retail recommendations for the 2018 session. It has met five times and is now getting down to the details of any proposals. Two – possibly three – more meetings are expected.

Sunday sales and cold beer have dominated the discussion.

Sunday sales

Liquor stores have historically opposed allowing Sunday sales while big box and other retailers have pushed for it. The latter are already open Sundays and have employees working but liquor stores would have to alter their business model. The industry argued for years that Sunday sales could cause local businesses to close.

But in September, the Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers came out in support of Sunday sales. The group representing liquor stores contends it has always supported Sunday sales – with proper safeguards.

“The time has come for Sunday sales,” the association said. “We are eager to work together with legislators to successfully draft and pass meaningful and impactful public policy that will allow Hoosiers to purchase alcohol for carryout on Sundays for the first time since Prohibition.”

Smaltz said the Sunday sales bill he will carry will be clean, i.e., not include changes on other alcohol regulations.

“If people want Sunday sales, then we need a pretty plain bill. Vote it up or down,” he said.

He added there will be an “alcohol chaser bill” that might address issues on cashiers' ages, display limits and other smaller items.

Terry Bauer, a member of the alcohol revision commission and former member of the state alcohol and tobacco commission, put forth a proposal last week that would allow Sunday sales of carryout alcohol from noon to 7 p.m. – after church and before dark.

“Lots of shenanigans and hooliganisms ... happen after dark,” he said to the group.

His proposal also would require clerks selling alcohol to be at least 21. That is the age requirement now in liquor stores but the age is 19 in other stores.

In general, Bauer also supports greater regulations for those with pharmacy permits selling alcohol.

“The original pharmacy permit has morphed into a liquor store (minus cold beer) nestled inside of a grocery/clothing/furniture/electronics/home improvement store. By quota requirements these types of permits greatly outnumber liquor store permits – a distinct advantage,” his proposal said. “They also have the ability to sell a variety of items (from AAA batteries to a Zamboni machine) – liquor stores have a highly restricted commodity list. Pharmacy permits need to be brought into closer compliance to liquor store requirements.”

But Bauer balked at any changes to cold beer, saying cold beer accounts for a large percentage of liquor store sales.

Cold beer

Commission member Randall Woodruff said it doesn't make sense to focus on the temperature of beer and he isn't sure it's the proper role of the legislature to protect one segment of the industry.

Indiana is the only state in the nation to regulate the sale of beer based on temperature.

Some argue that liquor store permits cost more – sometimes into six figures – and to change the rules abruptly isn't fair.

Others point out the highest prices are outliers and some stores have had the permits for decades. The commission has heard that it takes about four years for a liquor store to recoup its investment on a permit.

Jay Ricker, chairman of Ricker's, said he and other retailers are willing to pay an extra fee for the right to sell cold beer for carryout and that money could go into a fund to compensate liquor store owners for a few years during the adjustment.

“We are looking for creative ways to soften the blow,” he said, including allowing liquor stores to offer more commodities. Right now, they are limited to what food they are allowed to sell and can't, for instance, sell cold water or pop.

But he said overall they have to be able to change their business model – as he did when Kroger and Meijer began selling gasoline.

“I understand why they are fighting so hard, but times have changed. Consumers aren't being thought about at all in this debate,” Ricker said. “They have a lock on this and they don't want to give it up.”

War of words

Numerous media reports from around the state have questioned the hold liquor stores have on lawmakers –focusing on campaign contributions and liquor stores' less-than-stellar compliance record on selling to minors.

That has turned into a war of words between the associations representing various parts of the retail alcohol industry.

Rep. Phil GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne, also said at a recent commission meeting that he hopes the groups “bring down the temperature a little bit” and leave Twitter fights to D.C.

Chill Indiana – an effort by convenience store owners to push for cold beer sales – recently compared liquor store tactics to “something from the Al Capone days” on its Twitter feed and said liquor stores are “silencing by coercion/intimidation.”

The Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers defended its store owners as “effective because they are hardworking underdogs who must wake up every day knowing that big oil and some of the globes (sic) largest companies are intent on destroying their business and livelihood to increase their profits.”

nkelly@jg.net