Old laws may be a barrier to growth for some businesses.
Iowa Awaits Changes to Alcohol Laws
A change may be in the air for Iowa’s distilleries,
breweries, and wineries, as Gov. Terry Branstad recently ordered a review of the state’s
alcohol laws, calling them a possible barrier to business growth.
The laws, some of which were put into place in 1934, limit
distillers from selling their alcohol by the glass on-site and limit the number of bottles of liquor a distiller can sell on-site—rules that do not apply to
wineries and breweries in Iowa.
“Many things have changed in this industry since then, and
we want to make sure our laws are not barriers to entrepreneurs and
businesses,” Branstad said in a statement.
Other changes could include consolidating or eliminating
some state licenses and permits, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported.
“It’s almost as if everything about the way we sell
alcohol in the state of Iowa and [the way] we’re responsible for the
consumption of alcohol in the state of Iowa is outdated and antiquated,” Darin
Beck, CEO of bar and restaurant company Barmuda Cos., told the Des Moines
Register in 2015.
By January 2017, a working group helmed by Alcoholic
Beverages Division Administrator Stephen Larson and Iowa Economic Development
Authority Director Debi Durham will make recommendations for a new law.
