Kristy Hosman from King Soopers is part of the group pushing to end the state’s 3.2 beer law. The Your Choice Coolorado organization made its campaign debut in October. (Photo by John Frank, Denver Post)
The ballot battle on beer is beginning to brew.
The organization pushing to get full-strength beer and wine sales into grocery and convenience stores filed documents Wednesday that offer the first glimpse at how the 2016 ballot initiative may look.
The language for the two initiatives submitted to the Legislative Council for legal review — the first step in getting a citizen-led measure on the ballot — hold true to what Your Choice Colorado : the creation of a new license that will allow supermarkets and some convenience stores to sell “real” beer and wine.
The language does not include liquor sales at this point. But campaign organizers acknowledged that they may submit additional initiatives in coming months before deciding on which to take to voters.
The two initiatives contemplate different methods of ending the state’s 3.2 beer law. Under the Prohibition-era rules, grocery and convenience stores are currently allowed to sell only low-alcohol beer. Retail chains are limited to one full-service liquor license in the state.
submitted creates a new license for food stores — defined as a retail business that receives 25 percent of their gross annual income from food items — that would allow full-strength beer and wines sales. The ability to sell 3.2 beer would still exist, but it is unlikely to happen in practice.
The sale of lottery tickets and petroleum products would not count toward the sales calculation, meaning convenience stores would likely qualify under the provision. The licensing authority would rest with local jurisdictions.
of the ballot language repeals the 3.2 beer law and creates the same food store license. It may face legal hurdles as the Colorado constitution requires ballot initiatives have only one subject.
Both would permit food store applications starting July 1, 2017.
The measures were filed by Denver Deputy District Attorney Blake Harrison and former Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson, a paid consultant working for the campaign. “Like residents of the 42 states that allow Colorado beer or wine in their grocery stores, Coloradans deserve the ability to buy their favorite beer or wine at their local market,” Harrison said in a statement.
The Legislative Council is scheduled to hold a hearing Nov. 18 on the ballot language. Once it receives a legal nod, the initiatives move to the Secretary of State’s office for further review. With formal approval, the supporters would have six months to gather nearly 98,492 valid signatures to get it on the ballot.
But the first filings — and the others to come — also are seen as moves to push state lawmakers and interested parties to come to their own deal and avoid an expensive ballot fight.
Ben Davis, a spokesman for Keep Colorado Local, the organization opposing the measures, suggested the first initiatives amount to “moving the pawn out front.”
In an interview, Davis said the ballot language “certainly benefits the big box, the out-of-state grocery stores first and foremost.”
The effort is being pushed by major supermarkets and retailers, such as King Soopers and Walmart, and opposed by local liquor stores and some craft brewers and distillers.
Davis said there is “no real reason to change laws that have created a diverse and strong marketplace.”
