Colorado lawmakers defeat bill to allow liquor sales in Walmart and Target

Senate Bill 143 sparked a contentious debate and a dramatic vote

Source: The Denver Post

JOHN FRANK

March 6, 2017

Colorado lawmakers defeated a measure to allow liquor sales in Walmart and Target in an extraordinary vote Monday that suggested alcohol remains a potent political question.

The bill to allow big-box stores to expand beyond beer and wine sales emerged as one of the most contentious of the legislative session and split lawmakers on the question of whether it would hurt local liquor stores.

State Senate President Kevin Grantham, R-Cañon City, cast the final – and decisive – vote against the measure, 17-18 – an unusual tally that drew gasps from onlookers.

The legislation came a year after Colorado overhauled its Prohibition-era alcohol laws, allowing more grocery stores to add full alcohol sales in the next 20 years if they meet certain conditions. Right now, only liquor stores sell full-strength beer and each is independently owned.

Senate Bill 143 intended to offer a handful of tweaks to the new system to allow Walmart and Target to add liquor sales, but became embroiled in a debate about how the national retailers would affect local liquor stores – one rife with misinformation and big money lobbying.

Sen. Angela Williams, a Denver Democrat and the bill’s sponsor, said the 2016 overhaul of the state’s alcohol laws was designed to allow big box retailers to sell liquor, and the bill only sought to fix an oversight.

But Sen. Vicki Marble, a Fort Collins Republican and opponent, called the new legislation “a historic giveaway and destruction of the liquor industry that we’ve built in Colorado.”

“I feel like our two friends are fighting and we’re expected to pick sides,” said Sen. Owen Hill, R-Colorado Springs.