State Sen. Rice Proposing High Point Beer & Wine Sales In Grocery Stores

[Hoss]

Damsels in distress depended on dragons and knights in shining armor.

There were real businesses whose business model vaporized too.

The time for Oklahoma's liquor laws has past.

Slow down there Red, I read hints of Shadows in that post!

[DolfanBob]

To me it would just be so nice to be able to drink a "Real" Budweiser and Coors again.
But I know that is asking a whole lot of Oklahoma.

[Red Arrow]

Slow down there Red, I read hints of Shadows in that post!

I was going to use Blacksmiths for an example but decided to be more generic. 

Before cars, there were a lot more Blacksmiths/Farriers around to provide horseshoes etc.  That need is not totally gone but the business model certainly changed with motorized vehicles. 

I'm sure there are more examples.

[Red Arrow]

To me it would just be so nice to be able to drink a "Real" Budweiser and Coors again.
But I know that is asking a whole lot of Oklahoma.

I'm not so interested in a "Real Budweiser" or "Real Coors" since I drink craft beers but a little competition might bring the price down a bit.  I would really rather see refrigerated strong beer than beer in grocery stores if I had a choice and could only chose one change.

[Townsend]

I'm not so interested in a "Real Budweiser" or "Real Coors" since I drink craft beers but a little competition might bring the price down a bit.  I would really rather see refrigerated strong beer than beer in grocery stores if I had a choice and could only chose one change.

I'd like to see the Jarbo's and Centrals take a flying leap. 

Open our borders and allow us to order wine/beer/alcohol if it's not available in the state.  Allow our wine/beer makers to ship out of our state. 

Don't make a brewer sell to a distributorship so the distributorship can mark the cost up and sell it back to the brewery to sell to its customers.

[Red Arrow]

I'd like to see the Jarbo's and Centrals take a flying leap. 

Open our borders and allow us to order wine/beer/alcohol if it's not available in the state.  Allow our wine/beer makers to ship out of our state. 

Don't make a brewer sell to a distributorship so the distributorship can mark the cost up and sell it back to the brewery to sell to its customers.

I agree.  Oklahoma has a lot of liquor laws that many of us would like to see changed.

[swake]

http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=14165213

So, can someone that knows state politics better than I shed some light here? Is this a good or a bad thing? Was this bill sent off to die or was it sent off to be reworked as a real sensible bill with a real chance for passage that would be created outside of the lobbyists, political infighting and posturing in the state legislature?

[cynical]

Sent to die. Oklahomans have a history of talking good ideas to death. Get a bunch of them together and they will come up with as many ideas why an idea is not feasible as there are Oklahomans. 

So, can someone that knows state politics better than I shed some light here? Is this a good or a bad thing? Was this bill sent off to die or was it sent off to be reworked as a real sensible bill with a real chance for passage that would be created outside of the lobbyists, political infighting and posturing in the state legislature?

[Nik]

HB1354, which would tone down the happy hour rules, has passed committee "with amendments", but I those amendments have not been posted yet.

[zstyles]

I guess I don't see why government is protecting small business from competition anymore...the same with the 6% markup rule..gimme a break! Sure this would hurt some liquor stores, but would also bring more to the area...in other states when I travel its sure nice to pickup some wine at walmart while I am picking up some things...

[swake]

I guess I don't see why government is protecting small business from competition anymore...the same with the 6% markup rule..gimme a break!

The no sales below cost rule isn't there to protect small business, at least not primarily. It's there to promote competition and protect consumers.

For example in the grocery business, without the rule Wal-Mart with their size could decide to sell groceries under cost for a period of time taking what is to them a small loss in order to drive their competition out of business. Once the competition is gone they would be able to jack up prices however high they want gouging the consumer. If new competition tries to come in Wal-Mart could quickly go back to selling under cost in order keep competitors out.

This is an old anti-trust rule and  it's an important one.

[Nik]

HB1354, which would tone down the happy hour rules, has passed committee "with amendments", but I those amendments have not been posted yet.

Ok, the changes made in committee to HB 1354 have been posted. Here's what they did:

* The provision that would allow for places to provide discounted alcohol between 4-7PM remains.
* The provision that would have allowed places to provide discounted alcohol to a certain person or group has been removed (i.e., no ladies nights, even though they have these all time already).
* The provision that would have allowed places to increase the proportion of alcohol in a beverage without increasing the price has been removed (i.e., no double Jack & Cokes for the price of a single).