Legislation Aims To Control Drive-Thru Beer Sales

In some counties in Tennessee, you can pick up a six-pack of beer at a drive-up window. It will be harder for those businesses to renew their beer licenses under a measure being pushed at the state legislature.

State Senator Mike Faulk says some county sheriffs believe drive-up beer windows are responsible for much of the illegal beer sales to minors. Overall, he says a drive-thru just makes it more difficult to control alcohol sales.

“Drive-up windows are a problem. A clerk is removed from a purchaser. They can’t smell their breath, it’s harder to see their eyes, you can’t tell how they’re walking.”

So the Kingsport Republican wants clerks at such stores to have the kind of training grocery store clerks go through before selling beer. Faulk’s measure requires stores with drive-up windows to join the “Responsible Vendors Program” to receive the training, in order to get or renew a local beer license.

WEB EXTRA
The bill is SB 2486 Faulk/HB 2666 Lundberg.

The language about the Responsible Vendor Program is in Senate Amendment 1. The bill is ready for the Senate floor, but the House version was still in the Local Government Subcommittee.