Alcoholic beverages are now permanently available in Texas thanks to legislation signed by Governor Greg Abbott today on Thursday, May 12th. House bill 1024 enables restaurants and bars with mixed drinks permits and kitchens to sell beer, wine and mixed drinks for pick-up and delivery orders.
This legislation is the continuation of emergency measures to increase sales for restaurants in trouble during the COVID-19 pandemic. Governor Abbott issued a beer, wine and cocktail kit waiver with bottles less than 375 milliliters in March 2020, which was due to end this May. In June, the Governor, Texas Restaurant Association (TRA), and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) added mixed drinks to the take-away waiver and extended it indefinitely. This latest bill makes these waivers permanent.
The new legislation provides for the same security measures, such as: For example, alcoholic beverages have to be bought with food and stored in a tamper-proof container.
Support for the bill was overwhelmingly positive: the Texas House of Representatives approved the legislation in a March vote from 144-1 and the Texas Senate proved it in ril by a vote of 30-1. A survey by Cygnal found this 65 percent of Texans support restaurants that sell take-away alcohol.
Texas is now that 10. State during the COVID-19 pandemic to permanently legalize takeaway alcohol sales. Texas lawmakers are also considering three bills that would allow seven-day alcohol sales in either state (HB 937) or at the local level (SB 1013;; HB 2232).
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