Major Overhaul of Alcohol Laws Comes into Force in New Mexico | Local News

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POJOAQUE – The wall behind the two cash registers of Kokoman Fine Wines and Liquor will never be the same.

Hundreds of tiny liquor bottles commonly referred to as miniatures, minis, or shooters have long filled the stack of shelves, one of the last images customers saw before paying for their booze and leaving the store.

But not more. By Thursday, all miniatures should be gone for good, not just at Kokoman but at liquor stores in New Mexico.

Under a liquor law reform bill that will take effect on July 1, the sale of miniature bottles of alcohol for off-site consumption has been banned in the state. But the ban only applies to bottles that are 3 ounces or less, allowing liquor store owners to circumvent the ban by selling slightly larger liquor bottles called ponies.

The ban on minis and Quick Fix, or synthetic urine, by liquor store owners is the new law’s most tangible sign, but the sweeping legislation includes several other provisions that the bill’s sponsors expect. to see play out in the months and years to come.

“This was a very complex bill that was the biggest reform of alcohol laws in 60 years in our state,” said Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto, an Albuquerque Democrat who was the main sponsor of legislation in the Senate.

The new law lifts restrictions on alcohol sales on Sundays, Christmas Day and Election Day. It also enables home delivery of alcohol with food orders, as part of an effort to create a new source of revenue for businesses that have suffered a financial blow as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The age for serving alcohol is no longer 19 but 18 under the new law.

“New equity and opportunity”

Perhaps the most important provision allows restaurateurs to purchase alcohol licenses at a much more affordable price than in the past.

Making liquor licenses more accessible to new and existing business owners – $ 10,000 for a restaurant license to sell beer, wine and spirits – generated the most setback during the legislative session of 60 days earlier this year.

Licensees, some lawmakers and the New Mexico Restaurant Association have expressed concern that this will hurt existing owners, some of whom have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to obtain their licenses. But others said it would give new and existing dining establishments a chance to step in the door while also protecting owners of so-called legacy licenses.

“The bill… injects new fairness and new opportunities into the state’s liquor licensing process, making licensing more affordable and accessible overall while providing a significant tax deduction among many. ‘other protections for existing licensees in recognition of their investment,’ the governor’s office said after the government. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the law in May.

Rep. Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque, the bill’s main sponsor, said the law had lowered a “huge barrier” to going into business.

“Decades ago, state-issued liquor licenses became commodities to be bought and sold on the open market,” he said. “The last two sold for $ 500,000 each.… Now restaurants can get a liquor license for $ 10,000, which is amazing.”

Restaurant licenses in New Mexico were previously limited to serving beer and wine only. Restaurants that wanted to serve spirits had to obtain a distributor-type license, which cost between $ 300,000 and $ 500,000 in the secondary resale market.

“It was a major obstacle to economic development, especially in small towns in New Mexico that didn’t have a lot of distributor licenses available,” the state’s regulatory and licensing department wrote in a information guide. “The new ‘Spirits Restaurant’ will provide restaurants with new opportunities to improve their financial margins and drive growth in the hospitality industry.”

At least 60 percent of sales must come from food, and restaurants must close at 11 p.m. or when food service stops, whichever comes first, to qualify for the $ 10,000 per year license.

“One of the main considerations when adopting the new restaurant with liquor licenses was to make a distinction so that in practice the restaurants do not function or turn into bars”, according to the guide of the department.

Restaurants that already have a liquor license and don’t stay open after 11 p.m. will be able to apply for the new license and put their existing license on the market, Maestas said.

“This is the most exciting part for me,” he said. “As soon as all these lies and confusions are gone in a month or two, then there will be two or three dozen liquor licenses in the market which will then become places of entertainment, comedy clubs, nightclubs, bars and taverns. “

The bill also allows restaurants to pay $ 500 for a local distiller’s spirits license.

“We wanted to throw a bone at local distillers,” Maestas said. “There are some great distillers here in New Mexico who just need a little push to grow their businesses.”

Maestas described the reform of the state’s liquor laws as a huge achievement, saying existing liquor licensees “are fighting like hell politically to maintain their monopoly.”

“It was finally about the interest of the people, to finally defeat this extremely powerful special interest which is the lobby of the liquor”, he declared.

Ivey-Soto said he expects the new law will result in the opening of new restaurants “because they can get liquor licenses that they haven’t been able to get before” and that many existing restaurants “reinforce what they are”. do “and become better quality catering establishments.

“We’re not trying to create a bunch of new bars,” he said. “We are trying to create a bunch of new dining experiences.”

Ivey-Soto and Maestas said the reforms will hopefully lead to what they called a “more mature” relationship New Mexicans have with alcohol.

“In Boston, 73 percent of the alcohol sold is by drink; in New Mexico, 85 percent of the alcohol sold is by packet,” Maestas said. “We are a packaged liquor state. We have liquor stores everywhere. Instead of a drink [at a food and drink establishment] and go home and not drink, we do the opposite. We come home and drink. “

While New Mexico will always have a higher percentage of package sales because the state is so rural, Maestas said he “looks forward to all of these places opening up and people enjoying life. nightlife and entertainment like before “.

Ivey-Soto said the new business opportunities may not materialize immediately.

“I think over time, not too much time, we’re going to start to see some benefits that are going to happen,” he said.

Pony ready

The ban on minis, however, resulted in an immediate change that left some liquor store owners scrambling to get rid of their inventory.

Senator Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque, proposed the ban as a last-minute amendment as part of an effort to tackle drinking and driving. Others also saw it as an anti-waste measure, as dozens of empty mini-bottles end up on the streets.

Liquor store owners say the ban doesn’t do much because they and their customers are turning to ponies, which are about twice the size of minis. It will simply lead to people drinking more alcohol and bigger bottles of trash on the road, they said.

“I do not think so [the ban] makes sense considering that they’re going to be selling ponies instead of minis, ”said Eric Jinzo, who profited from Kokoman’s sales of minis in Pojoaque, which has been trying to offload around $ 65,000 in inventory since lawmakers have approved banning it.

Customers “will just turn to the larger sizes,” he said, adding that the only way lawmakers could cut down on drinking and driving would be to ban alcohol altogether.

Lopez did not return a message asking for comment, but Maestas said the effect of banning minis, such as the larger bottles of trash on the road, remains to be seen.

Keith Obermaier, owner of Kokoman in Pojoaque, said he was already feeling the effects of the mini ban. He said he didn’t have enough time to sell his inventory. The wall behind his cash registers was still full of minis – and sales signs – last week. A 50ml bottle of Goldschläger, for example, typically costs $ 2.99, but he sold it for 99 cents. It typically charges $ 11.99 for a small bottle of DeLeón Platinum Tequila, but has reduced the price to $ 1.99.

Obermaier expressed frustration that the ban was included in the legislation as a last-minute amendment without input from store owners or the public.

“We had a really big inventory of miniatures because the only way to buy them was to buy whole crates and get a better deal, so they let us buy it and then they rule it out, and now they don’t let us sell them or dispose of them where we could make a profit, ”Obermaier said.

“They always tell you they’re for small business, but I can’t see it,” he added. “I don’t understand how they are for small businesses when they don’t even talk to us.”

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