“Howdy Folks!” Who doesn’t love hearing Big Tex say that at the State Fair of Texas? Well, this season’s State Fair has ended after its most financially successful year ever, and we’re already in the midst of election season. The State Fair can give thanks for their success, in part, to alcohol sales, which is a big issue in Dallas this year, as well as for some other counties and cities in Texas. If you are out and about, you’ve probably heard about the “Wet/Dry” Issue. I’m about to give you a simplified “what this means” version of the two Propositions.
For City of Dallas voters, you will be faced with two Propositions dealing with the sale of beer, wine, and liquor. For each, you can vote “For” or “Against.” The first, Proposition 1 is worded this way: “The legal sale of beer and wine for off-premise consumption only.” A vote “For” allows all businesses with appropriate Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission (TABC) licensing, permitting, and certification to sell wine and beer for off-premise consumption, which means an individual cannot consume the beverage on the premises. This is most familiar to most of us as sales of wine and beer in grocery stores. As most of us know, our strange, patchwork, inconsistent laws and ordinances already allow beer and wine sales in grocery stores in SOME areas, but not in others. If Proposition 1 passes, it will make it legal for all Dallas business with proper licensing and permitting to sell beer and wine. This makes sense – as it is now, depending on the location within Dallas of the store, they may or may not be able to sell wine and beer, which affects sales, not only of beer and wine, but also of other items such as groceries. Many of us shop in grocery stores where beer and wine are available, and choose not to frequent the locations where sales are prohibited, regardless of whether we are planning to purchase beer or wine while we are there. It also affects where businesses choose to locate. For example, there is not a Central Market or Whole Foods Market in areas where they cannot sell beer and wine, mainly because those sales are a significant portion of their revenues. This would level the playing field for all the businesses, bring more choice to consumers and businesses, and make it more convenient for consumers. And for those who don’t drink or buy beer and alcohol, nothing has changed – they can still get every item they wanted before and choose not to buy beer and wine.
The second, Proposition 2 is worded this way: “The legal sale of mixed beverages in restaurants by food and beverage certificate holders only.” A vote “For” means the abolition of the silly private club membership requirements. You are most likely familiar with the membership rules when you go in a restaurant, order a glass of wine, beer, or a margarita, and are asked for your driver’s license, and asked to sign a piece of paper showing your membership in that location’s private club. Remember the old UNICARD? That was the same type of concept that arose out of the same laws and ordinances that Proposition 2, if passed, would do away with. This benefits businesses and consumers. The businesses can already sell the drinks, but they now have to devote extra time for their servers and bartenders to get the drivers licenses, scan them, get signatures, and maintain records of the people now in their “private clubs.” And they have to do this each time you are in their establishment and order a drink. From a consumer standpoint, did you know that each time you order a drink and are put in the private club records, there is now a permanent record of what you purchased? Yep, big brother at work in our government, again. The old laws provide for this “oversight” of who is purchasing what. If Proposition 2 passes, then servers and bartenders would be relieved of the multistep process required by the silly private club membership rules, businesses would be relieved of the hassle, manpower, and storage requirements of maintaining the private club membership records, and consumers’ beer, wine, and alcohol purchases would no longer be tracked by big brother in the areas where laws and ordinances still force the private club memberships for alcohol sales. And again, if you are one of the people who makes the choice not to imbibe, nothing has changed for you.
I know there will be those, some of them driven by religious beliefs, that will disagree with my views on and very general overview of these issues. You are entitled to your beliefs and can choose whether and what you drink. Religion should have no place in our state, county, or city governments. We’re now in 2010. It is high time that we vote to make Dallas a level playing field and do away with the arcane, unnecessary liquor, wine, and beer sales laws and ordinances that needlessly cause extra work and issues for businesses and consumers in this city. Vote “For” Propositions 1 and 2 in Dallas.
For a more detailed, legal and social history perspective on these Propositions, see Advocatemag.com for their recent article.
As always, if you want more information, have questions, like what you’ve read, or think I’m off my rocker, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me via the information on the other pages.
- Beth
