“Alcohol to go” bill passed by lawmakers
Tallahassee, FL (treasurecoast.com) — Florida lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday night to a bill that would make permanent a change allowing restaurants to sell alcoholic drinks with take home meals.
Gov. Ron DeSantis last spring issued an executive order that included so-called “alcohol to go” to help restaurants forced to scale back operations in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. He has endorsed making the rule permanent.
The final version of the bill, approved unanimously earlier Wednesday by the Senate, represented a compromise that included limits on selling alcoholic drinks with take-home and delivery orders, Senate sponsor Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island, said.
The restaurant industry, which lobbied for the permanent change, quickly praised lawmakers Wednesday night.
he bill would require cutting off the sale of to-go drinks — mixed or in bottles — when restaurants’ scheduled food service ends for the day or at midnight, whichever occurs first.
Drinks would need to be placed in secured containers and placed in locked compartments, vehicle trunks or in areas behind the last upright seats in vehicles. Restaurants would be prohibited from including alcoholic drinks in orders being delivered by people under age 21.
The to-go option would be available to restaurants that have special alcoholic-beverage licenses and derive at least 51 percent of revenue from food and non-alcoholic sales. For restaurants with regular “quota” licenses, food and non-alcoholic drinks would have to account for 60 percent of the orders.
