Florida: Liquor sales battle re-emerges in legislature

Source: News 4 JAX

By News Service of Florida

December 06, 2016

In the first moves toward what could be a renewed lobbying fight, two Miami-Dade County Republicans this week filed bills that would repeal a decades-old law that requires liquor stores to be stand-alone facilities.

Similar measures, backed by companies such as Target and Walmart, have drawn opposition in the past from independent liquor stores and companies such as Publix Supermarkets.

Those measures have failed to pass. Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, and Rep. Bryan Avila, R-Hialeah, filed the bills (SB 106 and HB 81) this week for consideration during the 2017 legislative session.

The Prohibition-era law requires separate places of business for the sale of liquor and other types of merchandise.