Yesterday, a bill that would remove restaurants and bars from the archaic, post-Prohibition laws regulating the sales of low-alcohol beers in convenience and grocery stores made it out of the House Economic and Business Development Committee -- 13 to 0. Senate Bill 60 has already been approved by the Senate; two more successful votes, and it will land on Governor John Hickenlooper's desk.
As a onetime restaurateur -- albeit one whose establishments specialized in craft beer, which are rarely low-alcohol brews -- Hickenlooper is certain to see the silliness of the current version of Colorado liquor laws, which prohibit restaurants and bars from serving 3.2, or very low-alcohol, beer to their customers. You know, the stuff that might be more responsible to drink than the higher-octane brews.
Although proposals involving which stores can sell what beers have all died this session, SB 60, which has the support of the Colorado Restaurant Association, keeps chugging along.
Let's hope legislators continue to see the light.
