If you don’t act fast before Saturday night you may be leaving alcohol behind in 2023 … at least temporarily.
This is because for a 61-hour period, as the year turns over, Texans will be prohibited from visiting liquor stores as multiple decades-old Texas Liquor Laws are overlapping to prohibit alcohol sales in the new year.
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In accordance with these laws, liquor store closures will start at 9:01 p.m. on Saturday and will finally be lifted at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. Here’s why the Texas dry spell is taking place.
What Texas laws are causing liquor stores to close for so long?
In 1935, Texas tightened liquor restrictions when it passed the Texas Liquor Control Act which mandated that Lone Star Liquor stores could not open on Sundays.
The act, which was a response to the repeal of Prohibition, is still enforced today despite various legislative attempts to modify the act.
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Before calls for its modification, the Texas Liquor Control Act was strengthened in the 1960s and 70s to ensure that liquor stores would also be forced to stay closed on Holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
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Is such a long window typical to start the year?
These longer periods of revisited prohibition are usually avoided. Still, when either Christmas or New Year’s Day land on a Monday this will always result in a window like Texans are seeing to start 2024.
Will the Texas Liquor Control Act be changed any time soon?
While the act itself is likely to continue on, there have been attempts in recent years to modify it to allow for the purchase of a larger variety of alcohol on Sundays.
In March of 2023 State Sen. Kelly Hancock, of Fort Worth, filed a bill that would enable grocery and convenience stores to sell the increasingly popular ready-to-drink cocktails on any day of the week.
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The fate of this bill is yet to be decided but is in line with a growing urge to loosen Liquor Laws in Texas.
The new year rings in new Texas laws.Here’s a look at some rules going into effect Jan. 1
What about beer and wine sales on Sunday?
Thanks to a bill signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in 2021, Texans can now purchase beer and wine starting at 10 a.m. on Sundays. Before the change, beer and wine could not be purchased before noon on Sundays.
The amendment to the law did not allow for a change in liquor sales.
Beck Andrew Salgado covers trending topics in the Austin business ecosystem for the American-Statesman. To share additional tips or insights with Salgado, email [email protected].
Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHY
