It’s easy to see why lawmakers may feel like Gov. John Hickenlooper undercut their authority when he swooped in and nixed the creation of new alcohol testing rules. Still, we have to concede the outcome makes the most sense.
The cumbersome raft of rules that he tossed was a response to a bill passed last year requiring beer to be tested for alcohol content. The real intent of that legislation, we believe, was to force a discussion of Colorado’s odd and anachronistic web of liquor laws.
The irony is that when Hickenlooper deep-sixed the regulations and instead adopted a rule that essentially keeps the status quo, it may have advanced the cause of those who want a broader rethinking of Colorado’s liquor laws.
With even some Democrats giving the governor the stink eye, the brouhaha might add some energy to other legislation waiting in the wings that would chip away at the layers of alcohol laws that segregate which establishments are allowed to sell different classes of alcoholic beverages.
While some of those efforts may have value, as we have said before, there ought to be a comprehensive rethinking of Colorado’s liquor laws.
Before he became governor, Hickenlooper essentially said he preferred to leave the state’s liquor laws the way they were.
That may not be an option now.
A bill expected to be introduced soon would get rid of the 3.2 percent alcoholic content label. As it stands, that alcoholic content level delineates which beer can be sold in most groceries and convenience stores versus the stuff that can be sold in liquor stores.
Without the label, beer would be beer and could be sold anywhere alcohol sales were legal. That has always made a great deal of sense to us.
However, we also think liquor stores, which have flourished in a market artificially constructed by complex liquor laws, ought to be treated fairly.
You can’t just kick the chair out from underneath them without changing other laws to allow them to be more competitive on other fronts.
For instance, currently liquor stores cannot be part of a chain of stores or have more than one store, which means they do not have the same purchasing power of a large chain of groceries.
Such a restriction could result in liquor stores having to charge more in order to make a profit if everyone were selling the same products.
That’s not fair, and that is one of the reasons why a broader look makes sense. We’ve advocated for a panel to study all of Colorado’s liquor laws and come up with a pared- down, market-based approach to liquor sales.
We also believe that such a broad restructuring would not have to happen overnight. There ought to be a gradual phase-in over multiple years that would give businesses a chance to change their platforms.
When the governor threw out the new alcohol testing regulations, he may have been trying to keep the status quo. But when you kick a hornet’s nest of this size, there are bound to be repercussions.
