FRANKFORT - Kentucky
supermarkets are taking the battle for liquor and wine in their stores to the
people in an effort to defeat a bill that would ban such sales, the Lexington
Herald-Leader reports. The grocery stores are handing out fliers to shoppers
asking them to contact their lawmakers about House Bill 310. A group of
supermarkets ran full-page advertisements urging lawmakers to oppose the bill.
The House Licensing and
Occupations Committee approved the bill with only one dissenting vote, and the
proposal now moves on to the full House. Independent liquor stores are pushing
the bill€™s passage behind its group, Fighting Alcohol Consumption by Teens
(FACT), which posits that liquor and wine should not be on the shelves of
stores that minors frequent.
Fueling the battle is a decision
last summer by U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II of Louisville that
said a state law banning convenience stores and supermarkets from selling wine
and liquor was unconstitutional. However, Heyburn put his ruling on hold until
legislators could come to a decision on the issue.
The House bill would
render the court ruling obsolete. The measure would allow grocery stores and
newly constructed drugstores to offer wine and liquor only through a separate
entrance to a connected building.
The Kentucky Grocers
Association and Kentucky Association of Convenience Stores opposes the bill.
"We simply believe retailers like grocery stores should have the option to sell
wines and spirits in Kentucky as they do in 35 other states. It's a matter of
fairness," said Ted Mason, executive director of the groups.