SB 132: Allowing Regular Beer in Grocery and Convenience Stores

This bill passed the Senate 27-2 and the House 61-14. 

You may have noticed that some of Utah’s alcohol laws are out of date.

Current protectionist policies allow government-owned liquor stores to sell beer above a certain alcohol limit, but not grocery and convenience stores. As of this April, Utah will be one of only two states that restrict grocery stores to selling 3.2% alcohol.

We believe it’s time to move away from these arbitrary policies that were created just after prohibition ended over 85 years ago. and Senator Jerry Stevenson’s SB 132 moves things in the right direction by allowing grocery and convenience stores to sell beer with up to a 4.8% alcohol content.

The market has shown that the demand for 3.2% beer has fallen and that other products between 3.2% to 4.8% should be made better available to the public.