New York: That law raising New York’s age for serving alcohol? It’s not going to happen

Source: https://www.newyorkupstate.com/

By Don Cazentre

Jul 18

It’s illegal to drink alcohol in New York until you’re 21, but as an employee you can serve it at bars, restaurants and other outlets as soon as you turn 18.

That’s not likely to change anytime soon, despite mistaken reports this week that grew out of confusion over a bill approved by state lawmakers at the end of their session last month. The bill, as written, would have raised the serving age for just a tiny fraction of alcohol sales — not, as reported, for all sales.

Plus, the bill has not yet been sent to the governor for signature or veto — and it probably won’t be sent without an agreement to remove the limited 21-and-over restriction.

Here’s what happened: A bill to waive the sales tax charged on some flights and samples at breweries, wineries, distilleries and hard cider makers was approved by both the state Assembly and Senate on June 20, the last day of the session.

The bill, pushed by the state’s brewing and winery trade groups, set limits on the number of samples that could be offered tax-free: No more than five 5-ounce samples of beer or hard cider; no more than six 3-ounce samples of wine; and no more than three 1/4-ounce samples of hard liquor. The bill also says each customer can purchase no more than one tax-free flight of samples per location per day.

Despite some erroneous media reports, the bill does not restrict the number of flights that can be served to a customer, just the number than can be sold without sales tax.

Also added to the bill at the last minute was this provision: “No person under the age of twenty-one shall be permitted to serve a sample or handle an open container of beer, cider, distilled liquor or wine.”

That provision, like the limits an samples, applies only to the issue of tax-free flights at beverage manufacturers. Even if the bill became law as is, those provisions would not apply to bars, restaurants or other alcohol outlets. It would not prohibit servers aged 18-to-21 from serving alcohol except in the case of tax-free flights.

And that 21-and-over serving restriction on sample flights is likely to be stripped from the bill before it goes to the governor anyway, said Chris Whalen, spokesman for Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo.

Lupardo, a Binghamton Democrat, sponsored the Assembly bill, while Patrick Gallivan, an Erie County Republican, sponsored the Senate version.

Even though the Legislature session has ended, the language specifying the 21-and-over serving restriction should be taken out through what are known as “chapter amendments,” Whalen said. The bill would be sent to the governor at the end of the year, and he would sign it with the understanding that the amendments would be resolved in the next session. If not, the sponsors will urge the governor to veto it, and the sales tax waiver bill will “start over,” he said

“I have been assured that the bill will not be sent to the Governor for consideration until the end of the year, when we will request a chapter amendment to address the 21-year-old age limit and any other unintended consequences,” Lupardo said in a statement.

That’s good news to Paul Leone, executive director of the New York State Brewers Association, which has been working on the sales tax waiver for samples for more than two years.

Ensuring that no employee under 21 served a sample flight could have proved difficult in a busy tasting room, he said.

“This is, overall, a beneficial law for the beverage manufacturers,” Leone said. “Unfortunately, some language we did not support, and did not know about, made its way into the bill. We have assurances that this language will be struck before it goes to the governor.”