There is a bill up for consideration in this year’s session in Annapolis involving Prince George’s County requesting that all of their supermarkets be allowed to sell beer and wine. Currently, Prince George’s County allows chain corporations to have only one store each to sell beer and wine (click here.) The bill before the legislators now will allow all PG County supermarkets to sell beer and wine. Should the bill garner any support, other Counties likely will join in with it to allow their supermarkets to also sell beer and wine.
When a bill like this one, usually referred to as a “Big Box Bill,” gets introduced, it is immediately opposed by the Maryland State Licensed Beverage Association of which Buzzy’s Country Store is a member. (For a good article on this issue (click here.))
To date, the MSBLA has been successful in holding off bills like this one. However, sooner or later it is going to pass because most folks seem to want the convenience of one stop shopping. It should be pointed out that St. Mary’s has addressed that issue indirectly: just about anywhere you find a grocery store, a liquor store is also close by.
The Big Box liquor issue has been an ongoing one for some time and consequently, liquor laws are all over the place. The following chart is from 2016 and gives you some idea how disparate the laws are from state to state (click here:) Maryland is one of 11 states that do not allow beer and wine sales in grocery stores.
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| Note that Maryland is a light blue “No Sale” State but the Delmarva (Virgina) Section Allows Sales |
A hearing on this year’s bill is set for 2 March. Who knows how things will pan out, but rest assured, one of these years it will pass even with the MSLBA standing in opposition to it. (Think back to 2011 when the Maryland legislature imposed a 50% increase on alcohol sales tax from 6 to 9%. The MSLBA wasn’t too happy about that bill either but still, it was passed. I expect the same to eventually transpire wrt to grocery stores’ sales of alcohol.)
All of which just calls for one more drinking song: