Bragg Insurance Agency
It was a relatively quiet legislative session until Ricker’s applied for and received a license to sell cold beer, and then everyone lost their minds. The legislature was outraged, the liquor lobby threw a fit and the convenience store/restaurant that specializes in providing good food and coffee became the symbol for everything that is wrong with Indiana’s prohibition era alcohol laws. The issue is as complicated as they come in state politics, and untangling it will take years and a massive amount of political will. Yet average Hoosiers are left wondering, what exactly did Ricker’s do wrong?
For all the media hype about Ricker’s use of a “loophole”, what they did was completely legal, within the law and within the public’s view. Because such a large part of Ricker’s business is selling food, they qualify as a restaurant and can receive the permits to sell cold beer as a restaurant. The liquor lobby and legislature however are crying foul – not because Ricker’s broke the law, but because their innovative business model is threatening to package liquor stores. If that was all there was to the issue it would be simple to dismiss as another case of lobbyists trying to write laws to rig the game. On closer inspection however it becomes evident that the reason something as seemingly trivial as Ricker’s selling cold beer isn’t just a case of a greedy special interest, it’s because of the way our laws themselves are written.
A license for a package liquor license can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in Indiana, and then if you are able to get one you face an enormous list of regulations that limit the way you can conduct business. Liquor stores are restricted by the state on what they can sell, who they can hire, where they can open and almost every other aspect of their business. When put at such a competitive disadvantage by Indiana alcohol laws that came straight from prohibition, a liquor store owner’s only recourse is aggressive lobbying. This is the background to every state alcohol issue, whether it’s Sunday sales or cold beer being sold at Ricker’s.
The legislature is now forced to acknowledge that the state is in desperate need of comprehensive reform of our alcohol laws. Start over and rewrite all of the laws governing the sale and distribution of alcohol and force itself to consider what makes sense and what does not. This will mean relaxing laws that unfairly restrict package liquor stores as well as allowing a business like Ricker’s to conduct its business the way it sees fit. As the legislative session winds down it looks as if Ricker’s will be allowed to continue selling cold beer until their existing license expires.
This issue shouldn’t be so complicated. Alcohol is a controlled substance for a reason. Yes, it is dangerous. Yes, it should continue to be a controlled substance. But it is perfectly legal, and a business that followed the law shouldn’t be singled out and punished the way Ricker’s is being punished. The laws should be rewritten to be clear, fair and consistent, allowing business the freedom to innovate and meet customer needs within the boundaries of the law.